Hamish Bowman with his mum Micheline at the NSW Ambulance awards ceremony in Wollongong. Photo: Adam Yip.
“My mummy won’t wake up,” a tiny voice tells the triple zero operator.
The operator on the other end of the line asks if mum is breathing; if there is anyone else there.
“No,” the tiny voice replies to both questions.
It belongs to Bellambi boy, Hamish Bowman.
Hamish is seven now, although he was only four when he called triple zero to get urgent help for his mum, Micheline Bowman-Gray.
Thanks to that phone call, she stood beside him proudly at the recent NSW Ambulance awards ceremony in Wollongong.
“He was just so brave,” she said.
“He put into practice what he knew. I’m extremely blessed.
“The person on the other end keeping him calm; I could hear the panic in his voice.
“It broke my heart to hear the recording. It could have been so much worse.”
Micheline had suffered a fainting episode, and thankfully recovered well.
Hamish was awarded the Star Award, for helping a family member during a medical emergency.
His mum said he remembered the incident, even thought it was such a long time ago.
“I woke up to find my son on the phone to triple zero and had no idea why I was on the hallway floor,” she said.
“He’s a very stoic kid – gets up and gets the job done.
“When I played him the recording I could see the lightbulb turn on in his head as he remembered.”
Three years on, she said Hamish had continued to grow into a kind, capable kid.
At the awards ceremony he wasn’t completely sure what all the fuss was about.
“He’s just a normal, energetic seven-year-old now – loving, caring and empathetic,” she said.
“He’s very inquisitive, inventive, and a bit spicy. Everyone loves him.
“He just thinks he did what anyone would do, and he’s ready to move onto bigger and better things.”
Micheline credited Hamish’s godmother Ally Hoolihan with drilling into him the importance of knowing what to do in an emergency.
Micheline said the experience brought home to her how important it was for every child to know what to do in case of emergency – especially as a single parent.
“It could have been so much worse,” she said.
“Hamish’s godmother is a nursing student and over Christmas she was drilling into him how to do a triple zero call.
“She really made sure he knew police, ambulance, fire, name, address. I could have been a gonner.
“I can’t stress enough how much parents should make sure their kids know what to do.”
