NORFOLK, Va. - Most of the time, parents are the ones taking care of their children. But every once in a while, a child saves their parent.
6-year old Latrell Shanes found himself in that situation last November, when he heard his mother, 31-year-old Tiffany Saunders crash to the floor.
“I just came in the kitchen. I found her on the floor,” Latrell told News 3’s Merris Badcock. “I said, ‘Mommy, get up,’ and she did not get up.”
Saunders is a diabetic, and was unconscious from low blood sugar. However, because of her illness, she had armed Latrell with a plan if this ever happened.
Step one: check her heartbeat. Latrell showed News 3 how to check someone’s pulse.
6-year-old Latrell Shanes shows News 3's Merris Badcock how to check for a pulse.
“Am I alive?” Badcock asked Latrell. “Yes,” he said after a few moments, waiting for a pulse and smiling. “Yes, you are.”
Step two: call his father or his grandmother so they can call 911. “He knows the passcode to get in to my phone,” Saunders said.
Sticking to the plan, Latrell called his dad, who called 911.
“I’m calling from my cell phone,” Latrell’s father, Travis Shanes can be heard saying over the 911 call. “My son called my phone and told me that his mom fell and she won’t get up.”
Then Latrell went one step further. “I went to knock on other people’s doors but they were asleep,” Latrell said. “I tried to get them to help.”
Tiffany Saunders says her son, 6-year-old Latrell Shanes saved her life.
Finally, Latrell did something he says he has never done before: he called 911 himself.
When paramedics arrived, Latrell even unlocked the front door so the EMS crew could rescue his mom.
Saunders was rushed to Sentara Leigh Hospital where she remained unconscious for almost five days, eventually recovering from her diabetic attack.
Saunders says she had to quit one of her three jobs after the accident, and because of that she was not able to give Latrell the Christmas that he wanted.
But she says she’s alive because of her son’s bravery.
“He’s my earthly angel,” Saunders told News 3.
Both mom and child were thankful they could spend their New Year at home and out of the hospital.
