CORY Gittens calmly dialled 999 to get help when his mum thought she was having a heart attack.Mum Natasha Astley was upstairs at home at Barnet Close, Ipswich, when she felt severe pains in her chest and realised she needed to get medical help.

CORY Gittens calmly dialled 999 to get help when his mum thought she was having a heart attack.

Mum Natasha Astley was upstairs at home at Barnet Close, Ipswich, when she felt severe pains in her chest and realised she needed to get medical help. Unable to use the phone herself because of the pain, she called out, and eight-year-old Cory came to the rescue.

Natasha said: “Cory was getting ready for school - I am very lucky he was still here.

“He knew exactly what to do - he dialled 999 and calmly explained to the operator that his mum had pains in her chest and needed an ambulance.”

Cory, who goes to Sprites Primary School and plays football for St John's and is part of the Ipswich elite youth training group, also phoned his dad Mark at work, and other relatives who live nearby.

He used his mother's mobile phone, keeping the emergency services operator on the home landline so she could talk him through what to do if events took a turn for the worse.

He said: “I was frightened - I thought my mum was going to have a heart attack, because I know that is what pains in the chest can be.”

After being rushed to Ipswich hospital by ambulance, tests were run on Natasha and it was found that her heart was fine.

According to doctors, the pain was probably caused by an infection, and Natasha was allowed to go home with a course of antibiotics. She was soon back to full health.

Natasha said: “I was very frightening at first because I didn't know what was wrong with me - I have never had anything like that happen before. If Cory hadn't have been there I wouldn't have known what to do - he is my little hero, and I am very, very proud of him.”

“The youth of a nation are the trustees of prosperity” Benjamin Disraeli , British prime minister and novelist .