A boy called 911 to ask for help with his math homework. Moments later, police realized he had a far bigger problem and rushed to his address.
Ryan Crosby sat deep in thought, staring at the plain wall and his math book. “How am I supposed to solve this one?” he mumbled.
The 8-year-old had a math assignment due the next day and couldn’t figure out a few problems. Even the internet didn’t have the step-by-step answers he needed. That’s when Ryan picked up the phone and dialed 911.
“911. What’s your emergency?” the operator answered.
Although the emergency unit in that part of Madison had dealt with all sorts of calls, this one was unlike anything they had received before.
“Come again? You need help with math???” the dispatcher exclaimed after listening to Ryan.
“Yes, I do,” Ryan said earnestly. “My mom always told me I shouldn’t be scared to call 911 to ask for help.”
The operator hoped this wasn’t another prank call. Kids in town often dialed 911 with hoaxes around Halloween. Not wanting to jump to conclusions, she decided not to take the boy’s pleas about his math homework too seriously.
“Listen, son… What’s your name?” the operator asked.
“My name is Ryan.”
“Ryan, this is not a tutorial center… It’s an emergency line,” she explained gently. “Is there any emergency we can help you with?”
But Ryan insisted he only needed help solving his math problems. “Please! My mom said 911 helps… help me with this, please!” he cried.
At this point, the operator debated hanging up, but she needed to be sure it wasn’t a prank. She decided she should speak to Ryan’s mother.
“Alright! I will transfer your call to the non-emergency department. But before that, can you give the phone to your mother?” she asked.
Ryan burst into tears. He said he wouldn’t have called 911 if his mother had been home.
“I see. Is there another adult with you in the house?” the operator asked.
“No, it’s just me,” Ryan replied.
“Are you saying you’re all alone in the house, Ryan?”
“Yes.”
“One sec, hold on… hold on…” The operator kept him on the line as she quickly traced his address. Within minutes, police officers rushed to the home and found him alone at 10 p.m.
“Hello, Ryan. Where is your mother? How long have you been alone in the house?” an officer asked calmly.
Ryan explained that he had returned home from school that afternoon to find the house empty. “I had the spare keys with me,” he said.
The officers immediately sensed something was wrong. They tried contacting Ryan’s mother, Matilda, but her phone was switched off.
“Something isn’t right… Officer, you stay with him while we search,” the cop instructed his partner.
Moments later, a call came in from the control room with the last known location of Matilda’s phone.
“What… What’s going on? Where is my mother?” Ryan cried.
One officer stayed with the boy while the others hurried to the location in a patrol vehicle.
The coordinates led them to the outskirts of town. “Her phone was last active in this area… Go on, search this place,” an officer ordered, pointing toward a secluded area where an old, deserted mill stood.
They searched the area thoroughly but found nothing for half an hour. Soon, a K9 unit arrived to help. Officers gave K9 Caesar one of Matilda’s used scarves from her home to sniff.
Within seconds, Caesar led them in a different direction. Ten minutes later, they found a car stranded in the middle of a deserted route.
“Officers, stay back… alert…” the cop warned. As they approached cautiously and surrounded the vehicle, they peered inside and saw Matilda lying still on the seat.
“Let’s get her out of there!” the officer shouted.
An ambulance arrived ten minutes later, and Matilda was rushed to the hospital.
“Mrs. Crosby? Are you alright?” the cop asked once she regained consciousness. “Can you please tell us what happened?”
Matilda revealed that she had gone to visit her sister in a neighboring town earlier that morning.
“I wanted to shop on the way, and I decided to take a shortcut to this place,” she explained. “But while driving, I passed out, and I don’t remember what happened after that.”
The doctor later confirmed that Matilda had fainted due to heat. Her phone battery had died, and she remained unconscious in the car the entire day. Fortunately, a window was open, allowing her to survive.
The officer told Matilda how they had located her. “It appears that one call Ryan made to 911 saved your life…”
Later, an officer drove Matilda home. The moment Ryan saw her, he ran to her and hugged her tightly, tears streaming down his face. “Mommy! I missed you… Where were you?” he cried.
Matilda hugged and kissed her son, realizing she had done the right thing by teaching him never to be afraid to call 911 when he needed help.
“You saved my life!” she told him with a grateful smile.
The incident became a meaningful lesson for Matilda’s friends and siblings as well. They began teaching their own children not to hesitate to call 911 if they ever needed help.
What can we learn from this story?
- Teach your children the importance of calling 911 during emergencies. Ryan’s mother had always told him to reach out to 911 whenever he needed help. While he dialed the emergency line for assistance with his math homework, the call ended up saving his mother’s life.
- Pay close attention to what children say. Their words often mean more than they seem. When Ryan told the emergency operator he was alone at night, she alerted the police immediately. Once officers arrived and discovered his mother was missing, they launched the search that ultimately saved her.