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POWDER SPRINGS, Ga. - A simple household chore almost cost Christie Green her life.
Green said she was cleaning out her son's guinea pig cage February 8 when she noticed she was having trouble breathing and yelled to her son, Connor, who was in the other room recovering from the flu.
"I have a nebulizer. So, I went to use that and it wasn't working," said Green. "So, I called his name. I screamed his name actually and I said, 'Please bring me my rescue inhaler,' and when he did, I heard a voice in my head. It sounds so silly, but I heard a voice in my head and it was like, 'You need to call 911.' And I was just like, I pushed it to the side and I looked at him and he was grabbing my rescue inhaler and the voice was like, 'You need to call 911.' So, I said, 'Call 911."
Green had never talked to her son about what to do in an emergency, but she said the 9-year-old got her cell phone, unlocked it and used Siri to connect to an emergency operator.
"It's something that you just think is so automatic for us, for them it's not. Because before that he was like, 'I thought it was 991,'" Green explained.
Connor said he gave the 911 dispatcher their address and stayed on the line until paramedics could arrive.
"I was scared and nervous," Connor recalled. "When the fire department got here, I ran downstairs, opened the door and they all ran inside and that's when they did CPR on my mom."
Green later learned she had suffered respiratory failure triggered by an asthma attack.
"From what I was told from the paramedics, just as they got here I had gone into cardiac arrest. Like, had they gotten here a little bit later, probably would've been a different outcome. They probably wouldn't have been able to help me at that point," said Green.
She credits her son with saving her life.
"I keep telling him he's a hero. I don't know if it's sinking in or not. He's my hero," Green said.
A teacher, Green said she has shared her story with her class and their parents to illustrate the importance of talking with children about what to do in an emergency.
"Call 911 and stay calm," said Connor.
Green said her son is now up for a Cub Scouts award for his brave actions.