When his mother fainted unexpectedly, 4-year-old John called the last dialed number on her phone, a pizzeria. The operator, Kelly, was kind enough to help out and called emergency services. When John’s mother got well, their family surprised Kelly with their gratitude.
“My mommy is on the floor of the stairs, and I don’t know what to do,” John said to the phone. The four-year-old boy had heard a thump and saw his mother unconscious at the foot of the stairs. He didn’t know what to do or who to call, but he pressed several buttons on the phone, and they automatically dialed the last number her mother must have called.
His mother, Ginger, had recently ordered a pizza from their favorite place, and they had dinner. John went to his room to play after eating, and that’s when he heard the noise.
Now, he was trying to find help because his father was away on a business trip, and he didn’t know what else to do. His mother would also go crazy if he went out to a neighbor’s house. New Jersey could be dangerous at night.
“Listen, kid, call 911. This is not my problem,” the person at the pizzeria said, and John heard the distinctive sound of someone hanging up from the other line. What could he do? He was just a kid and didn’t know what 911 meant. So, he pressed more buttons on the phone, and they dialed the pizzeria once again.
“Hello, this is Pizzeria. How can I help you?” John realized it was the same place he dialed as before, but he heard a woman speaking this time.
“Hello! Please don’t hang up. Please help. My mommy is on the floor. I need help!” John begged, his voice trembling.
“Oh! Okay, sweetie. Calm down. I’m Kelly. I’ll help you. Can you tell me your mother’s name?” the woman asked.
“Her name is Ginger. We just ate pizza right now,” John replied, glad that this woman would help.
“Ginger Winters? Is that your last name?”
“My name is John Winters, so I think so,” John continued, nodding although no one could see him.
“Okay, honey. We have your address. I’m going to call emergency services right now. Stay with your mom, okay? You’ll hear the ambulances soon,” Kelly said, and John hung up the phone himself.
He sat by his mother’s prone body and waited. After what seemed like an eternity to the kid, he heard an ambulance and saw the lights reflected on his wall. Someone knocked on the door, and he was scared, but he decided to act and open it.
“There! My mommy is over there,” he pointed at his mom to the men at the front door. One woman in a paramedic outfit bent down to his level.
“So you are John, huh? You called the pizzeria for help?” she asked and smiled at him. John nodded wordlessly. “That was very smart, kid. We’re going to help your mom.”
“She has my baby sister inside her,” John added.
The woman looked towards her paramedic co-workers. “We can see that. Don’t worry. We’re going to help both of them,” she assured the kid. And when they got his mother on a stretcher, she reached out her hand and ushered John to the ambulance with them.
Luckily, the hospital had their information and managed to call John’s father, Erik. So he cut his business trip short and got there just a few hours after Ginger was hospitalized. He also told John he did a great job, and the kid explained everything about Kelly, the woman from the pizzeria.
A few days later, Ginger was discharged. Her blood pressure had dropped, and the doctors advised her to take it easier. Erik decided not to take any more business trips for the remainder of the pregnancy, so John was glad he wouldn’t be alone again in case something else happened.
“But Dad, we have to thank the woman at the pizzeria. She was a hero! She helped Mom and me,” John insisted when they got home, and Erik agreed.
They all went to Gianni’s Pizza that night and asked for Kelly. The woman came out with a huge smile on her face. “You must be John! And are you Ginger? I hope everything is well now,” she said kindly to the family.
“Yes, thank you so much. John has been talking nonstop about how you helped them while I was away. And that’s why we’re here. I have something for you,” Erik said, pulling something from his pocket and giving it to Kelly.
The woman looked at the check in her hand and her eyes widened. “Oh, no! Goodness, no! I didn’t do it to get anything. I couldn’t accept this. I was just being a good citizen,” Kelly tried to refuse, giving the check back to Erik. But John’s father wouldn’t take no for an answer, and Ginger chimed in.
“We insist. John also said that the first person he called didn’t help and hung up on him, but you didn’t. So, you deserve this,” she insisted to the pizzeria worker.
“Really, no. Years ago, my sister fainted while home alone, and no one found her for a long time. This reminded me of that incident. Luckily, she was okay. John didn’t say anything about you being pregnant, so I’m even more glad to have helped,” Kelly continued, still trying to reject their generous offer.
But the Winters persisted once again, and Kelly finally agreed.
When they got home later, Erik taught his son how to dial 911 just in case something happened again.
Several months later, John’s sister was born and he suggested to name the baby Kelly. “Without Kelly’s help, something bad might have happened,” the boy said, and his parents relented, and so Kelly Winters was born.