In November last year, North Lakes paramedics Stacey Heath and Ainsley Jonker were called to a Keperra home after an eight-year-old boy called Triple Zero (000) stating his mum was having the worst seizure she’d ever had.
In the early hours of the 27th of November, before school, Sebastian White woke to his mum, Renee Norton, kicking him in bed, and he quickly realised she was having a seizure.
Renee’s seizures while asleep began in 2021, but they’d seemed to have stopped before returning again in April last year.
So, Renee and Sebastian created an emergency plan for Sebastian with instructions for what to do if or when a seizure might happen again.
While they’d only discussed this plan once, Sebastian didn’t panic when it was time for him to act.
He followed all the plan’s steps to get care for his Mum; he called Triple Zero (000) stomped on the floor three times to alert his grandmother who lives downstairs, and timed Renee’s seizures.
When Stacey and Ainsley arrived on scene at the family’s Keperra home, Sebastian was waiting outside for them.
“I told the ambulance crew how many seconds and minutes between seizures and how Mum only has seizures in her sleep,” Sebastian said.
Stacey and Ainsley said they’d been surprised to find Sebastian on scene, as they’d assumed from the amount of information they’d received via the Mobile Data Terminal (MDT) that an adult had made the emergency call.
“I have not been to many jobs where children know what to do in an emergency, and Sebastian was so calm - he wasn’t flustered - just waiting out the front for us to arrive,” Stacey said.
“We didn’t have to ask him anything, as he’d given us the information we needed at that time.
Ainsley said the team was also impressed with the detail Sebastian was able to provide them with about Renee’s seizures.
“Sebastian was able to tell us how long the seizures went for, what they looked like, how he knew she was having a seizure, what happened during the seizure, and that there was blood coming out of Renee’s mouth,” she said.
The team later nominated Sebastian to be recognised for his bravery and knowledge in the face of a confronting emergency.
“If ever there is a worthy recipient of this award, it is Sebastian,” Ainsley said.
And so, on January 2025, Sebastian, Renee and a few members of their family were reunited with Stacey and Ainsley at their North Lakes Ambulance Station in much calmer and happier circumstances.
After an update from Sebastian about his pet lizards and a tour of an ambulance, Stacey and Ainsley presented Sebastian with his Certificate of Bravery, along with some QAS goodies, including a cuddly QAS teddy.
“I wasn’t worried (because), I knew what to do,” Sebastian said.
Renee said she was “very proud,” of Sebastian, but not surprised he did so well under pressure.
“He’s very calm, very clever and does listen a lot,” she said.
“I knew if we discussed the action plan once or twice, he’d retain that information and he did everything he could to save my life.”
When asked if he might want to be a paramedic someday, he said yes, but, “only if I can take my lizards with me in the ambulance!”
