An eight-year-old Havelock North boy has today been honoured for his courage and quick thinking when he helped his grandmother after she suffered a traumatic injury from a nasty fall.

Patrick Ryan was presented with an ASB Super Saver Bravery Award by St John Community Educator Susan Manning and ASB School Account Manager, Lisa Papuni, during an assembly at Te Mata School.

The award – which was a surprise for the year three student – came with a golden superhero cape and certificate.

The incident occurred during a teacher’s only day when Patrick and his grandmother decided to go for a ride at the Guthrie Park Bike Track. The care he showed his grandmother began even
before they left the house, when Patrick noticed his grandmother without her helmet on and insisted on not leaving without it.

“Because having a helmet on when you ride a bike is safe. I wanted to make sure she was safe,” says Patrick.

“He was ahead of me as we went down the drive, and he turned around and said, “Ouma you don’t have your helmet on.” It's something we're always careful about. So, he went back and got it for me. It saved me in a sense because I needed that helmet when I fell. The helmet broke which is how hard the impact was, says Stephanie Mueller, Patrick’s grandmother.

“I remember we were biking across the BMX track from the start to the end. We were going over a hill and I stopped and turned around to see if she was okay. I saw her fall off her bike and onto the ground. The foam inside the helmet that protects your head was cracked and because she was wearing sunglasses, they broke too. I jumped off my bike and ran over to her and I saw blood coming from a gash on her forehead,” describes Patrick, who was only seven at the time.

“I was worried, but I knew what to do. I went into her bag and grabbed Ouma's phone and called 111. I felt relieved and happy that an ambulance was coming to help her, but I was nervous for
her at the time,” recalls Patrick, who gives credit to the emergency call handler on the other end of the phone, who instructed him to apply pressure to the wound.

“The person was very helpful. The weird thing is I had to take my t-shirt off to cover her gash and help stop the bleeding. Then she woke up and I asked her, “What's my name?” She got it right and I felt quite relieved,” he recalls.

“The last I remember was biking over the speed humps and I woke up to see him on my phone and noticed him without his t-shirt on and thought, “That's odd.” Then I noticed the t-shirt was on my forehead,” says Mrs Mueller.

“It took a while to realise what had happened, but I knew I had been knocked out because I was on the ground and my head was bleeding and Patrick was on the phone with emergency services. He was describing exactly what had happened. He told me St John is coming and I thought “Phew,” and I just relaxed at that point.”

“I received a call from Patrick at work. For some reason instead of calling my mobile number which he knows, he looked up my work number on Google and called that number. I think he thought he'd be more likely to reach a person rather than calling my mobile,” recalls Catherine Mueller, Patrick’s mother.

“Somebody came to me to say, “Your son has just called and your mum's had an accident.” I spoke to Patrick, and I got the information I needed. When I arrived at the bike park, Mum was sitting in the back of the emergency vehicle. She was conscious and she had something on her head and there was a lot of dried-up blood. Patrick was clearly full of adrenaline and was pacing around the place with his t-shirt off, telling me what happened.”

St John dispatched an ambulance and a Rapid Response Unit to help the 74-year-old, who was transported to Hawke’s Bay Hospital where she was kept overnight for observations, after suffering from concussion and a brain bleed.

“I’ve had to have scans but with all the amazing care I've had, I'm absolutely fine. I recently passed my concussion test. I got thirty out of thirty!” says Mrs Mueller, who heaps praises on Patrick.

“I'm eternally grateful because there was nobody around. It was just the two of us. He's my little hero. He did a good job of saving me. What’s great is it's strengthened the bond between us. In the aftermath, he is now so protective of me. It’s quite amazing. I must say I am very proud of him. You hear of these amazing things that children can do and when it happens to you, it brings it home,” she says.

“It had a big impact on him for some time. He became really tuned in and aware of whether everyone around him was safe. It really did strike me the fact he called 111 first before calling
me. I remember thinking, “Wow!” I’m really grateful and really proud of him,” says Catherine Mueller.

“I’m happy she's okay now,” says Patrick. “You actually can't see the gash now. The shirt has been washed and it's okay. I still do lots of activities with Ouma but now she's more careful. I do look out for her a lot to make sure nothing happens to her again, and other people as well.”

St John Head of Community Education, Jacci Tatnell says Patrick’s bravery and swift actions prove young children can save lives.

“We’ve heard of many examples of children like Patrick, who’ve helped to save the life of a friend or loved one by recognising when they have been in danger, calling for help, and applying first
aid.

“Through our ASB St John in Schools programme, we are equipping as many tamariki as we can with the skills and confidence to take action in an emergency. The more children learn about first aid, the more lives can be saved, and our communities become stronger and more resilient," says Ms Tatnell.

Every month, St John’s Ambulance Communications centres can receive as many as fifty 111 emergency calls from children who are often calling in traumatic circumstances where a loved one has fallen or is unconscious, and there are no other adults in the house.

To date, more than 800,000 students have completed the ASB St John in Schools programme since 2015. With support from ACC, the common goal is to deliver to a total of one million New Zealand students (pre-school through to intermediate) by 2023.

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