A FIVE-YEAR-OLD boy has been commended by the ambulance service for the action he took when his mum collapsed at home.

Alfie James, of Wornham Avenue in Stevenage, was with his mum, Gill, and four-year-old brother, Ben, when the drama unfolded.

“I was mopping the kitchen floor, picked up the bucket, and turned around awkwardly,” explained Mrs James. “I felt a click and a movement in my shoulder blade.”

Mrs James walked into the living room to check on her two sons, but began to feel sick and faint from the severe pain she was in.

“I passed out and was half on the sofa and half off it,” she said. “I was just coming around and I heard Alfie repeating our address.”

Alfie, who is a pupil at Fairlands Primary School and Nursery in Stevenage, had managed to unlock his mum’s mobile phone, use the touch screen to dial 999, and had given his full address and details of the situation to the ambulance dispatch unit.

“I even have trouble using my mobile,” laughed Mrs James, 43. “He said he knew something was wrong because he couldn’t wake me up. He said he was frightened but kept very calm.”

Alfie added: “I was scared, but Mummy had taught me what to do. I had to explain what was wrong.”

Mrs James was taken to Lister Hospital in Stevenage where it was discovered some cartilage had come away from the bone.

At a school assembly on Monday, Gary Sanderson, a representative from the East of England Ambulance Service, presented Alfie with a certificate of commendation in recognition of his actions on Monday, June 14. He said: “It was an absolute pleasure to meet and present Alfie with his certificate. His quick-thinking and knowing how to call for an ambulance at the age of five on a mobile phone is amazing. His mother must be very proud of him indeed.”