DELTONA, Fla. – A mother says her 7-year-old autistic child acted beyond her wildest imagination and summoned help after she was injured in a bad fall.
[AUDIO: Listen to full 911 call]
Lisa Kirby's injuries were so bad that she spent the night and the next day at the hospital. When she finally came home, she told Local 6 she still can't believe how her autistic son, Joshua, jumped into action.
"At the hospital I said, 'How did I get here? How did I get here?'" said Kirby, who fell trying to hang curtains, blacked out and woke up in pain on the ground and unable to move.
Kirby's first thought was being home alone with her autistic son.
"There was no one else here to help me. I didn't know what I was gonna do," said Kirby. "I was just scared for Joshua. That was my main concern was Joshua, nobody being here for him."
But little did she know, Joshua had found her phone, dialed 911, and for 11 minutes calmly took directions from the 911 dispatcher.
Joshua: I need some help!
Dispatcher: Hello. What happened?
Joshua: Mommy got hurt!
Dispatcher: How did she get hurt?
Joshua: Mommy fell down.
"Me and my husband were both amazed. We're like, how did he do that? Because I didn't even know he knew what 911 was," said Kirby.
With the phone in hand, Joshua got a towel for his mom's head and unlocked the door for paramedics -- as instructed by the dispatcher. By the time mom was finally able to speak, his call had already brought help to the front door.
"He is a little hero," said Kirby, who thinks he learned to dial for help after a recent visit by firefighters to his school.
Her lesson to every parent: Never underestimate your child.