Boy Calls 911 to Ask For Help with Math, Cops Soon Realize He Needs Real Help – Story of the Day
A child who needed assistance with his arithmetic assignment dialed 911. Officers hurried to his address after quickly realizing he had a more serious issue.
Ryan Crosby sat frozen, his gaze shifting between his math book and the blank wall in front of him. With a frustrated sigh, he muttered to himself, “How am I supposed to solve this?”
The 8-year-old was in a bind, struggling with a few tricky math problems for an assignment due the next day. Despite scouring the internet, he couldn’t find any detailed solutions. In a moment of desperation, Ryan grabbed his phone and dialed 911.
“911, what’s your emergency?” the operator’s voice came through.
Ryan, without hesitation, responded, “I need help with my math homework.”
Though the Madison emergency team had responded to many strange calls before, this one was certainly unusual.
“Help with math?” the dispatcher exclaimed after hearing Ryan’s request. “You need help with math???”
“Yes, I do,” Ryan replied, his voice earnest. “My mom always told me I shouldn’t be scared to call 911 if I need help.”
The operator, now skeptical, wondered if this was a prank. Halloween often brought in random, playful calls from local kids, so she considered brushing this one off. But still, she hesitated.
“Is there an actual emergency here?” she asked. “We’re here for urgent situations.”
Ryan, however, was insistent. “Please! Please help me with my homework! My mom said 911 helps!”
The operator sighed, thinking of hanging up, but her instincts told her to be cautious. She didn’t want to take any chances, so she asked, “Let me speak with your mom.”
Ryan handed the phone to his mother, and the operator explained the situation, needing to confirm if this was truly a harmless call or if something else was going on.
“All right, your call will be forwarded to the non-emergency division,” the operator said, but then added, “Can you give the phone to your mother first?”
Ryan’s sobs grew louder as he explained, “If my mom had been home, I wouldn’t have called 911.”
The operator softened, “I understand. Are you alone in the house, Ryan?”
Ryan hesitated, then quietly answered, “Yes.”
“Are you sure? No other adults are there with you?” the operator asked, her tone growing more serious.
“No… It’s just me,” Ryan replied.
The operator paused, her mind racing. “Hold on one second… I need to look up your address.” She quickly accessed the information, her voice steady as she kept him on the line. “Don’t worry, Ryan, help is on the way.”
Within minutes, officers were speeding toward Ryan’s house. Around 10 PM, they arrived to find him alone, just as he had said, sitting in his room surrounded by his homework—completely unaware of the serious chain of events his call had set into motion.
“Hi, Ryan. Where’s your mom?” one of the officers asked gently, kneeling down to his level. “How long have you been alone here?”
Ryan’s voice wavered as he spoke, “When I got home from school, the house was empty. I had the spare keys with me.”
The officers exchanged concerned glances. Something didn’t sit right. They attempted to reach Matilda, Ryan’s mother, but her phone was turned off.
“We’ve got a problem,” one officer said, his voice tight. “You stay with him while I search the house. We need to find her.”
Just as they were about to escalate the situation, the control room buzzed with a new update. Matilda’s phone had pinged last from a location nearby. The officer turned to his partner, signaling for them to move quickly. They had a lead, and now, the urgency of the situation had escalated.
“What’s happening? Where’s my mom?” Ryan sobbed, his small face full of fear and confusion.
While the others sped off in the patrol car to follow the coordinates, one officer stayed behind with Ryan, offering him a reassuring presence.
The police traced the phone’s last location to the outskirts of town. “This is where her phone was last used,” one officer said, pointing to a desolate stretch of land where an old, abandoned mill stood. “Let’s start searching.”
They combed through the area for what felt like an eternity, but after 30 minutes, there was still no sign of Matilda. Frustration began to mount.
That’s when a K9 unit arrived. With the scent of urgency in the air, they quickly grabbed one of Matilda’s old scarves and presented it to K9 Caesar.
Without hesitation, Caesar led the officers down a different path. Within seconds, the dog was on the move. Ten minutes later, the searchers found an abandoned car stalled in the middle of a deserted road, its presence just as ominous as the growing tension surrounding Matilda’s disappearance.
The officer’s voice rang out urgently, “Officers, stay back… stay alert…” As they closed in on the abandoned vehicle, the officers cautiously surrounded it. Peering inside, they saw Matilda unconscious in the driver’s seat. “Let’s get her out of there!” one officer shouted, and they quickly sprang into action.
Within ten minutes, an ambulance arrived, and Matilda was swiftly transported to the hospital.
When Matilda regained consciousness, the officer was the first to speak. “Mrs. Crosby, are you okay? Can you tell us what happened?”
Matilda slowly gathered herself and began to explain, “I was visiting my sister in the nearby town this morning. I decided to stop and shop, and I took a shortcut to get here… but while I was driving, I suddenly passed out. I don’t remember anything after that.”
The doctor later confirmed that Matilda had fainted from heat exhaustion. She had spent the entire day in a comatose state inside the car, and with her phone’s battery dead, she couldn’t call for help. The only reason she survived was because a window was left slightly open, allowing some air in.
When the officers explained how they found her, one said, “It seems that one call your son made to 911 saved your life.”
After being discharged, Matilda was taken home by an officer. As soon as Ryan saw her, he rushed into her arms, tears streaming down his face. “Mom! You were missed! Where have you been?”
Matilda hugged him tightly, grateful beyond words. She smiled, wiping away her tears. “You saved my life, sweetheart. You did the right thing when you called 911. I’m so proud of you.”
The incident became a lesson for Matilda’s family and friends. They shared the story with their own children, encouraging them to never hesitate to dial 911 when help is needed.
This powerful story teaches us a crucial lesson: teach your children the importance of calling 911 in an emergency. What seemed like a simple call for help with math turned out to be a life-saving action for Matilda. Ryan’s quick thinking saved his mother’s life when she needed help the most.
It also reminds us to always listen to what our children have to say. You might be amazed at what they can teach you, and how much their actions can mean. Ryan’s call to the emergency operator led to the police arriving just in time to save his mom.
