Aaron Knoch could not wake up his mother.
He realized she needed help, and he knew what to do.
Aaron, who turns 8 in February, found the cell phone near his mother's bed and called Westmoreland County 911.
North Huntingdon Township Rescue 8 raced to their Robert Street home and revived Lorraine Knoch.
Her son's quick instincts may very well have saved her life on Jan. 5.
Lorraine Knoch, 41, has been a diabetic since she was 9. She is insulin-dependent and wears a pump.
Aaron knows that if his mom is unresponsive or thrashing about in bed, she needs help.
"I went into what they call 'sugar shock.' He's seen my husband help me numerous times," Lorraine Knoch said. "They told me that the blood sugar was only 25, which is extremely low."
Aaron was set to get ready for his day as a second-grader at Queen of Angels School.
"The alarm clock went on and I woke up, but Mom didn't," Aaron recalled.
He tried to give her candy to increase her blood sugar level, but she wouldn't take it.
"I was thinking 'Should I use the telephone?' She wasn't responding," he said.
He called the county's emergency management service and told the dispatcher where he lived.
"They were here in a minute. I know it was a minute because I counted," he said.
Rescue workers were impressed with how the youngster handled the situation.
"Our guys got a call at about 7 a.m.," said Bill Blair, Rescue 8 operations manager. "This boy said his mother had a diabetic emergency. The boy called 911 and gave them all the information they needed to have. The fact that he got all the information correct is astounding."
Aaron also tended to his dog, Molly.
"I had to put it in (a room) and shut the door so it couldn't come out," Aaron said.
It's something he's seen his father do. The dog had to be away from the emergency workers.
"If she would have seen them, she would have barked. If she would have heard them, she would have barked," Lorraine Knoch said. "She would have been in the way."
Lorraine Knoch is proud of her son.
"I didn't think he would do it," she said, beaming. "He's a very timid child.
"I'm sorry it happened, but to know that he's able to do this, I feel a little bit safer."
Aaron will be recognized for his quick action. A presentation ceremony is planned for 3 p.m. Thursday at the Westmoreland 911 center, and he will also get a tour of the facility.
Aaron admitted he has talked about the incident many times -- too many, if you ask him.
But how does he feel about what he did?
"Very, very good."
