Cumbernauld five year old comes to aid of dad

Jamie Martin, who lives in Ravenswood’s Tiree Court, had the presence of mind to dial 999 when father Tony became unwell on Sunday, January 20.

The pair were all set to watch The Lorax on DVD when Tony (36) fell to the floor as the seizure took hold.

It had all the signs of a full-blown calamity, especially as mum Elaine (32) was out for the evening. Yet clued-up Jamie kept a cool head and immediately took control of the situation.

He explained “Dad got the shakes and I phoned the ambulance. I got him over the bean bag cushion and a blanket for him. I also did some drawings for him. When the ambulance people arrived, I was helping them too.”

Jamie put paramedics in touch with his gran while arrangements were made to take Tony to hospital. Thankfully he was released shortly afterwards, once doctors were content he hadn’t suffered from concussion.

The wise-beyond-his years Ravenswood Primary pupil knew this might happen one day as his parents had done a ‘rehearsal’ of this worst-case scenario, as Tony suffers from ongoing epilepsy. Tony who is a data analyst at Glasgow University said: “Jamie is a wee star. I’ve told him that he is even a sort of superhero.”

Mum Elaine, who works at Tesco in Camelon, added: “Although we have gone through this before, we didn’t know if Jamie would be able to do this on his own so it is really reassuring.”

But another part of her isn’t surprised.

“Jamie’s brilliant. He’s a very caring wee boy. He is always hugging his friends. We are very proud of him,” she said.

A spokesman for the Scottish Ambulance Service said: “Jamie did exactly the right thing by calling 999. He was really brave in what must have been a frightening situation for him and showed real courage to stay calm and have the presence of mind to phone for for help.”