Five-Year-Old Credited for Helping for Stricken Mother

Dylan Smith may only be a couple of feet tall, but he's still a big hero in his mom's eyes.<br>Saturday, Smith and his mother, Jamie Shouse, were taking a nap when Shouse went into a diabetic coma.

Wednesday, January 19th 2000, 12:00 am

By: News On 6

Dylan Smith may only be a couple of feet tall, but he's still a big hero in his mom's eyes.
Saturday, Smith and his mother, Jamie Shouse, were taking a nap when Shouse went into a diabetic coma. Five-year-old Smith has been through this once before and knew what to do. "I knew my mom needed help," he said. "I know one thing I asked her, â€˜Do you have diabetes? She said, yes.â€™â€

Although he admits being a little frightened, he ran outside, found their landlord and brought her back to the house. She called 9-1-1. The following is from the transcript of the audiotape of the 9-1-1 call. Operator: â€œSo tell me what happened.â€ Landlord: â€œA little boy came out on the playground and told me his mom needed help."

EMSA got to the house in minutes and took Shouse to the hospital. EMSA says they get one-to-two calls a week from children like Smith. "They give us the honest truth of what's happening because they don't comprehend sometimes what's going on," said EMSA spokesman Bryan Metcalf. "He is quite a boy to be able to go outside the apartment and get somebody to help his mom."

Life is getting back to normal for Smith and his mom. Shouse has returned to work and sheâ€™s trying to put the experience behind them. â€œI'm proud of him,â€ Shouse said. â€œI hate for that responsibility to be on a five-year-old. He's a smart boy and always been receptive to people's feelings. We work together. We're a team."