New York Post
NEW YORK — He’s only 4 feet tall — but he’s the man of the house.
Heroic 7-year-old Drew Champagnie kept his cool yesterday morning when his sickly mom suffered a frightening seizure — calmly calling 911 for an ambulance that saved her life.
“She started shaking and she fell sideways,” the brave little boy said yesterday.
“I went downstairs to get the phone and call 911. I told them that ‘My mom is sick! Come as fast as you can!’ ”
Drew’s mom, Donna Gilkes-Champagnie, 48, suffers from high blood pressure and diabetes and has had seizures for the last few years.
She was getting the youngster ready for school at about 8 a.m. in their Brooklyn home on Hendrix Street in East New York when she was stricken in his upstairs bedroom.
That’s when the 4-foot-3, 60-pound third-grader at PS 13 showed off his nerves of steel, running downstairs to call for help, just as he’d been taught by his grandmother and an uncle, an EMT.
Drew said he wasn’t scared — and when the 911 operator asked the youngster if he was OK, he said, “I’m worrying about my mom.”
The operator then asked what street he lived on and the house number — both of which the savvy youngster immediately provided.
“I know what to do,” he said proudly.
Gilkes-Champagnie, who’d suffered a stroke in the past and had seizures before, was rushed to Kings County Hospital for extensive testing.
“He’s always looking out for me,” his proud mom told The Post. “He’s awesome, a beautiful little boy.”
The mother and son were home alone because his grandmother, who lives with the family, was away on vacation, neighbors said.
Drew’s father, meanwhile, heard the news and gave his son a lift to school, where an assistant principal made an announcement over the intercom praising the plucky boy’s heroics.
Drew, a modest boy who likes to play soccer and hopes to be a pro wrestler some day, will also be honored by the FDNY during a ceremony at 10:30 this morning at fire headquarters.
His family wasn’t at all surprised at the boy’s heroics.
“He’s a very smart kid, very smart,” said his uncle, Dwayne Gilkes, a 12-year veteran EMT.
“They told me Drew handled it. He’s never been alone with her.”
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