A six-year-old boy who always dreamed of being a policeman was praised for saving a serving officer’s life – his own FATHER.
Brave George Williams, six, was at home last Sunday with father Dennis Williams, 33, and two-year-old brother Alfie, when Dennis collapsed in his bedroom.
Cambridgeshire police officer Pc Dennis is known as ”Robocop” locally after he made 227 arrests in 2006 – around 100 more than any other officer in the force.
But after he collapsed with a form of meningitis in the evening, helpless Dennis was left unable to move and barely able to communicate except to call George for help.
The proud father was stunned to see George look up his grandmother’s name programmed into the home phone and call her for help.
While grandmother Mary Russell, 58, was en route, quick-thinking George disappeared from the bedroom and went to get help from neighbours.
The youngster dragged his small armchair along the hall and used it to climb up and grab the front door keys from a hook on the wall then unlock the front door.
He then ran to get help from neighbours who called the paramedics and waited with George for them to arrive to their home in Watlington, King’s Lynn, Norfolk.
A rapid response vehicle arrived and called for an ambulance which took Dennis to Queen Elizabeth Hospital, King’s Lynn, where doctors were concerned by his 40C temperature.
He was diagnosed with meningis and viral pneumonia and remained in hospital for five days where he was treated on a antibiotic drip and painkillers.
Dennis, who joined the police eight years ago, is now recuperating at home and says he does not know what would have happened to him without George’s brave efforts.
He said: ”I’m immensely proud, George is a little hero for acting the way he did.
”I hadn’t been feeling well and somehow I ended up on the floor in the bedroom. I remember calling out for George to help me.
”He came in and called his grandma using the house phone and said ‘Daddy has collapsed – can you come and help me?’ then off he went – I didn’t tell him what to do at all.
”He didn’t rush and there was no panic in his voice – he was just very calm and did all the right things.
”The doctors were pretty worried when I got to the hospital because my temperature was so high.
”I’m feeling much better now, but if George hadn’t been there to help then who knows how things might have turned out.”
But at the time George’s main concern was to get help for his dad so he could watch his favourite cartoon – Ben 10.
George said: ”I went to the neighbour and said ‘Daddy’s collapsed, can you come and help me pick him up because I want to watch my cartoon.’
”I was worried about Daddy because he couldn’t get up but after the paramedics came I was happy because they helped him.
”Now I want to be a paramedic as well because it’s a very important job.”
Dennis is a Pc with Cambridgeshire police and George’s mum Hayley Williams, 35, is a Pc with Norfolk Constabulary in King’s Lynn.
Mum Hayley, who was working at the time, said that George had always wanted to be a police man, but since rescuing his dad he had decided on a change of future career.
She said: ”George always wanted to be a police man but after this happened he said to me, ‘Mummy, I want to be a paramedic now because it’s much more important’.
”We’re both police officers, so he knows about emergencies, but we’ve never told him what he should do.
”He was back at school the next day, and he stood in front of the whole school to tell them about what happened. We’re incredibly proud.”
George, a Year One pupil at Watlington Primary School, King’s Lynn, was awarded a medal of bravery and a certificate at a ceremony at his school.
Headteacher Jenny Dowden said: ”He’s a little boy who bounces into school with a really cheerful outlook, but he’s an ordinary six-year-old.
”We were stunned by how much he was able to do and the presence of mind he had. It’s just incredible in a child so young.”