When Ryan Smith peeked into

the kitchen, he saw his mom, Tina, lying on the floor.

The 4-year-old tried to get

her to roll over, but there was no response.

When she couldn't answer him,

the Fayetteville youth knew exactly what to do.

He called 911.

Dispatcher Cathy Conger answered

the phone and Ryan got right to the heart of the situation.

"My mommy got hurt,"

he said.

In the first 45 seconds of

the call, Ryan said his mom was on the floor in the kitchen, he didn't

know how she was hurt and her eyes were closed. He also told Conger that

his dad, Jerry, was at work and he was alone at home with his mom.

Later, confiding to another

dispatcher in a warbling voice, Ryan said his mom's eyes were closed "like

she was dead."

Paramedics were sent immediately

to the Smiths' Fayetteville home so Tina could be rushed to the hospital.

Doctors later determined Tina

had passed out due to a minor heart condition she had been recently diagnosed

with. Hours after the situation began, she was released from the hospital.

That happened in April of last

year. Just last week, Ryan was recognized with several other youths in

Georgia for their heroics in remembering to call 911 and get help in an

emergency situation.

Ryan, a student at Fayette

Elementary School, was presented with a medal from the Georgia Emergency

Management Agency. Monday afternoon, he recalled who taught him to call

911 for help.

"My mom put it in my head,

'cause I listen to her," Ryan said.

All Tina remembers from that

fateful morning is leaving Ryan's bedroom after he said he was hungry.

Ryan remembers much more. He

found her lying down in the kitchen with a knife in her hand from where

she was putting butter in his oatmeal.

"I thought, 'What is she

doing? Is she trying to play around, or maybe she's passed out?'"

Ryan said. "So I called 911."

Minutes after Ryan's call,

the paramedics arrived and he unlocked the door for them. As the ambulance

drove Tina to the hospital, Ryan rode up front next to the driver.

"He was driving and I

was sitting," Ryan remembered.

Well before the incident occurred,

Tina had practiced calling 911 with Ryan on one of his toy telephones.

She made it very clear that it was only to be used in emergencies.

Sure enough, Ryan knew when

to make the call.

Tina urged other parents to

teach their children to remember their name, address and phone number

in case they ever need to call 911.

"I told him you should

call 911 if you ever see me passed out because you can't fix it,"

Tina Smith explained. She admitted that she worried he'd call 911 just

to see if it worked, but he never did.

Ryan said he might want to

be a paramedic one day. But he's not quite ready to commit to that.

"I'm still just a kid,"

he said. "I have a long, long time to decide."