# Who is the youngest child to ever save someone's life by calling 911?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-the-youngest-child-to-ever-save-someones-life-by-calling-911/197053>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [August 23, 2003, 12:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-the-youngest-child-to-ever-save-someones-life-by-calling-911/197053 "2003-08-23T00:31:14Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 5\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![Jake4](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/bc8723/32.png) [@Jake4](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jake4)\
**Post date:** [August 23, 2003, 12:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-the-youngest-child-to-ever-save-someones-life-by-calling-911/197053/1 "2003-08-23T00:31:14Z")

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“Someone” can be the child making the call.

The youngest child ever to call 911 is not what I’m looking for, but still interesting.

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**Author:** ![johncole](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/5f9b8f/32.png) [@johncole](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/johncole)\
**Post date:** [August 23, 2003, 5:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-the-youngest-child-to-ever-save-someones-life-by-calling-911/197053/2 "2003-08-23T17:39:36Z")

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This is the story of a five year old autistic boy, [cite](http://www.webspawner.com/users/asperger/rory.html)

> [@](#):
>
> This five-year-old autistic boy managed to call for an ambulance after his father collapsed with an illness called haemochromotosis, also known as bronze diabetes, which only affects no more than 3000 people in the UK. This can be fatal if too much iron gets into the blood stream and cause liver failure if not treated properly.

…and a four year old girl,[cite](http://www.prideofbritain.com/2001winners/)

> [@](#):
>
> ‘The paramedics told me she knew how to give them our address and said daddy was a diabetic’

I am sure there are examples of younger children acting in this way, but I cannot find them (yet).

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**Author:** ![Jake4](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/bc8723/32.png) [@Jake4](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jake4)\
**Post date:** [August 25, 2003, 5:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-the-youngest-child-to-ever-save-someones-life-by-calling-911/197053/3 "2003-08-25T17:36:30Z")

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Sorry.

Anyone else got anything? I know kids under 4 can use the phone…

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**Author:** ![elfkin477](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/a9a28c/32.png) [@elfkin477](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elfkin477)\
**Post date:** [August 25, 2003, 5:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-the-youngest-child-to-ever-save-someones-life-by-calling-911/197053/4 "2003-08-25T17:57:01Z")

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Apparently my mom got me to “call” 911 when she fell down the stairs and had a miscarriage because of it (I was 18 months old) - She could reach the phone, but couldn’t dial because only the reciever would reach her, so she got me to play with the buttons until it annoyed an operator whom she then spoke to herself.

I believe I’ve heard about kids younger than three actually dialing and talking to the police who then saved the parents life, though.

Kids can be taught very young to dial 911 like this for example:

> **[Epilepsy Foundation](https://www.epilepsy.com/)**
>
> The Epilepsy Foundation is your unwavering ally on your journey with epilepsy and seizures. The Foundation is a community-based, family-led organization dedicated to improving the lives of all people impacted by seizures.

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**Author:** ![johncole](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/5f9b8f/32.png) [@johncole](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/johncole)\
**Post date:** [August 27, 2003, 8:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-the-youngest-child-to-ever-save-someones-life-by-calling-911/197053/5 "2003-08-27T08:00:01Z")

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GMTV (UK morning program) reported today that a two-year old used a phone to call for help when his mother collapsed, without being prompted by an adult.

The child (now aged 3) was identified as Jake Anderson (?sp).

The mother has a condition called vaso-vagal-syncope(?) which causes black-outs.

Jake apparently picked up the phone and was lucky enough to hit a speed-dial option which connected him with a relative. (His grandparents had been trying to teach him to use the phone.)

No cite for this, not even on the **[gm.tv](http://gm.tv)** website, and no luck searching UK newspapers. No information on the date of the emergency, and the family name was only spoken (not displayed as text at any time) so the correct spelling is debatable. For more input, you could email **[gm.tv](http://gm.tv)**.