Twelve-year-old Jaiden Moore’s quick thinking and early training may have saved his mother’s life when she passed out on Saturday afternoon.

Driving home to Nowra from Kiama, Tracie Burns felt very ill. She had been suffering a severe headache most of the day but things were quickly getting worse. She remembers crossing the bridge over Broughton Creek on Bolong Road. 

“The next thing I remember is waking up in an ambulance. Apparently I pulled up soon after crossing the bridge, phoned my partner Jason and told him I wasn’t feeling right.”

She then started passing out. She threw the phone to Jaiden and slumped over the wheel.

Jaiden said he told his stepfather where they were and then called triple zero.

Ms Burns said she had taught her children from the time they could walk and talk how to use triple zero in an emergency because they often stayed with their grandparents.

“The woman on triple zero asked me Mum’s age and name, and to let her know every time Mum took a breath. She was breathing very heavily,” Jaiden said.

“I had to spell out where we were, the street name and location. Then my stepdad turned up and took over.”

“Jaiden also took my pulse,” Ms Burns said. “Jaiden says it was very rapid.”

Jaiden said by the time the ambulance arrived his mother was not talking, was frothing at the mouth and her eyes were rolled back in her head.

“I was crying, but when the ambulance arrived I knew she was in good hands.”

He said the paramedics kept on asking his mother questions as they helped, but she could only nod or shake her head.

“They strapped her in the ambulance and left. A couple of minutes after that my grandparents arrived and they took me home.”

Ms Burns was taken to Shoalhaven Hospital, but had to wait in the back of the ambulance for two hours because there were no beds available.

“They kept a towel over my head because light was painful. The paramedics made me feel as comfortable as possible and kept checking on me.”

Eventually Ms Burns was taken to a dark room and the nurses took blood tests.

“This was about 9pm, and then at 1am early Sunday morning a doctor came to see me.”

What followed was a series of tests, including a lumber puncture, an MRI and a CT scan.

“They released me on Wednesday morning, after spending several days in day surgery. They just didn’t have any room. The bed next to mine was occupied by a drug addict who was off his nut.”

Ms Burns stressed that staff at the hospital were wonderful and did everything they could for her.

After a long Saturday night, Jaiden was finally able to see his mother at the hospital on Sunday.

“She was looking all right, and that made me feel better,” he said.

Ms Burns said when she was released she was told she had probably suffered a transient ischaemic attack, a kind of mini-stroke.

“I suffer from migraine and have high blood pressure, but have never had a fit and my family has no history of epilepsy. The doctors think the combination of a migraine and high blood pressure on Saturday may have led to the TIA.

“I have to see my GP and a neurologist in Sydney, but it seems I’m now off caffeine, alcohol and deep fried food.”

Ms Burns wanted to thank the triple zero operator, Danielle Schaefer, and the two paramedics, Paul Nicholls and Shane Wicks, for all their help on Saturday.

Most of all, she praised the courage and clear thinking of Jaiden.

southcoastregister.com.au