‘Harry Potter helped me save mum’s life’, Peterborough Evening Telegraph, 13 September 2011

September 13, 2011


From the Peterborough Evening Telegraph, 13 September 2011

A QUICK-THINKING schoolboy who saved his mum’s life said he learned his first aid tips from watching Harry Potter.

Anthony Druitt (9) was at home in Spring Drive, Farcet, when his mum, 34-year-old Katrina Druitt, collapsed into a fit.

Like his wizarding counterpart he kept calm and brave in the face of adversity, surrounding his mum with cushions until her seizure stopped before moving her into the recovery position.

He made emergency calls to the East of England Ambulance Service and to the family’s GP surgery in Yaxley.

The Farcet Primary School pupil said he knew he had to call the ambulance for help because his mum’s seizure reminded him of an “epileptic fit” that Harry Potter’s best friend Ron Weasley suffers after drinking poison in the film Harry Potter And The Half-Blood Prince.

Harry saves Ron’s life by making him drink an antidote and getting him to hospital as soon as possible.

Anthony said: “Ron drank something and just collapsed on the floor. They put something in his mouth but I didn’t do that.

“It went on for five or ten minutes and I got the ambulance lady.

“They asked me lots and lots of questions and asked if her chest was going up and down. Then the ambulance came very quickly.”

A crew from the East of England Ambulance Service took Katrina to Peterborough City Hospital where she was released after several hours of observation and tests.

She is expected to have brain scans this week to determine the cause of the fit.

But the proud mother paid tribute to her “amazing son” saying she believes his quick-thinking stopped the seizure from turning into a fatal coma.

Katrina, a single mum who has been unable to work for two years since she developed Myalgic Encephalopathy (ME), added that she had no idea that Anthony would behave so well, or know what to do, in an emergency.

She said: “I’m just chuffed to bits with him. He’s lovely. I just think he’s amazing.

“I would assume that he wouldn’t know what to do, but the fact that he rang the family doctor makes me very, very proud of him.

“The ambulance crew were quite shocked to find that he was just a child, because they had been given so much information and I was in the recovery position.”

Ambulance staff have also praised Anthony for his actions in the incident last week, and welcomed the unusual source for first aid tips.

An East of England Ambulance Service spokeswoman said: “What Anthony did was very courageous.

“It is very hard for anyone to see a loved one taken ill, so for a child so young to keep a cool head and do exactly the right thing to get help is really commendable and potentially life-saving.

“We would like to follow this up with a meeting with the family to present Anthony with a special certificate for his bravery and quick thinking.

“We welcome anything that educates children in recognising an emergency situation, in whatever form it comes.”

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