A boy dialed 911 for help with his math homework, but the police soon realized he was actually in real danger and hurried to his house.
Ryan Crosby sat quietly, staring at the wall and his math book. “How do I solve this?” he whispered.
The 8-year-old had homework due the next day, but a few math problems were too hard. Even searching online didn’t give him the steps he needed. So Ryan grabbed the phone and dialed 911.
“911. What’s your emergency?” the operator asked.
The emergency team in that part of Madison had heard many strange calls before, but this one was different.
“You need help with math???” the dispatcher said in surprise.
“Yes,” Ryan replied seriously. “My mom told me I should never be afraid to call 911 for help.”
The operator wondered if this was another prank. Many kids made fake 911 calls around Halloween, so she wasn’t sure what to think. Still, she chose to stay calm and not assume it was a joke.
“Okay… What’s your name?” she asked.
“My name is Ryan.”
“Ryan, 911 is for emergencies,” she explained gently. “We’re not a place that teaches lessons. Is there a real emergency we can help with?”
But Ryan kept insisting that he only needed help with his math homework. “Please! My mom said 911 helps… help me with this, please!” he cried.
The operator thought about ending the call, but she needed to make sure it wasn’t a prank. She decided she needed to talk to Ryan’s mom.
“Okay, I’ll transfer you to the non-emergency line. But first, can you hand the phone to your mother?” she asked.
Ryan suddenly started crying. He said he wouldn’t be calling 911 if his mom were home.
“I see. Is there any other adult with you?” the operator asked.
“No, it’s just me,” Ryan said.
“You’re alone in the house, Ryan?”
“Yes.”
The operator kept him on the phone while she quickly checked his address. Minutes later, police arrived and found Ryan alone at 10 p.m.
“Hi, Ryan. Where is your mom? How long have you been by yourself?” an officer asked gently.
Ryan said he got home from school earlier that day and the house was empty. “I used the spare key,” he explained.
The officers immediately felt something was wrong. They tried calling his mother, Matilda, but her phone was off.
“Something isn’t right… Stay with him while we look around,” one officer told another.
Then the control room called with the last location of Matilda’s phone.
“What’s happening? Where’s my mom?” Ryan cried.
One officer stayed with him while the others rushed to the location in their police car.
The phone’s signal led them to the edge of town. “Her phone was last used here… Search the area,” the officer said, pointing toward an old, abandoned mill.
They searched for about 30 minutes but found nothing. Then a K9 unit arrived. The officers gave the dog, Caesar, one of Matilda’s scarves so he could pick up her scent.
In just a few seconds, Caesar the police dog pulled the officers in a new direction. After about ten minutes, they found a car stuck on a lonely road.
“Be careful… stay alert,” the cop warned. They slowly approached the car and looked inside. Matilda was lying still in the seat.
“Get her out now!” the officer shouted.
An ambulance came ten minutes later, and Matilda was taken to the hospital.
When she woke up, the officer asked, “Mrs. Crosby, are you okay? Can you tell us what happened?”
Matilda explained that she had visited her sister that morning.
“I wanted to shop afterward, so I took a shortcut,” she said. “But while driving, I fainted. I don’t remember anything after that.”
The doctor later said she passed out from the heat. Her phone battery had died, and she stayed unconscious in the car the whole day. Luckily, a window was open so she could breathe.
The officer told her, “Ryan’s 911 call saved your life.”
Later, an officer brought Matilda home. As soon as Ryan saw her, he ran to her and hugged her tightly with tears in his eyes. “Mom! I missed you… where were you?”
Matilda hugged and kissed him, realizing she had done the right thing by teaching him not to be scared to call 911.
“You saved my life,” she told him with a grateful smile.
The story also taught a lesson to her friends and family. They started teaching their children to call 911 if they ever needed help.
What can we learn from this story?
- Teach children when and how to call 911. Ryan’s mom told him to call if he ever needed help — and that call ended up saving her life.
- Listen carefully to what children say. Their words can tell you something important. When Ryan said he was alone at night, the operator knew something was wrong. That led police to search for his mother and save her.