SIX-year-old Ethan McSkimming has been nominated for a Proud of Barnsley award after saving his mum's life by dialling 999.

Ethan was told by mum Helen, 34, that if she was ever struggling to breathe he needed to call for an ambulance.

Helen, of Low Street, Gilroyd, has been an asthma sufferer since a young age and thought her severe asthma attack would pass.

But quick thinking Ethan noticed that his mum was not okay and when he called 999, he told the operator that his mum couldn't breathe and spelled out his address - which he had learned just weeks before.

When paramedics arrived he offered them biscuits, but couldn't offer them a hot drink as he wasn't allowed to touch the kettle.

He also kept his younger brother, Harry, two, entertained and out of the way while his mum was treated with a nebuliser.

Helen said: "It's pretty unbelievable that he's been nominated. "At that moment in time I kept thinking I would be fine, but Ethan knew I wasn't. "I had told him a couple of years before to call 999 and what to say if I couldn't breathe.

"At the time he kept saying 'you can't breathe can you mum? I'm calling 999.'

"His dad works away so we told him what all of the different emergency services were for and when you would call, in case he ever needed to know.

"You don't want to put your kids under pressure or scare them, but you don't know when you might need them to help."

She added: "I'm not surprised that he did what he did. "He remembers everything and is very grown up."

Ethan even called Helen's parents after the attack to ask them to come and look after him and his brother whilst his mum went into hospital.

Paramedics at the scene praised his bravery, and Dr David Macklin, executive director of operations at Yorkshire Ambulance Service, said: "Ethan did a fantastic job and stayed calm when faced with what must have been a very difficult situation. "He did all the right things to get help for his mum and she must be very proud of him."