4-year-old boy given award for helping save his mother's life during a medical emergency

ELK RIVER, Minn. -- The Sherburne County Sheriff bestowed an award to a 4-year-old boy for saving his mother's life during a medical emergency.

Asher Milless became the youngest person ever to receive the Life Saving Award from the office. 

The sheriff's office says Milless was at home on the afternoon of Nov. 20, 2022, when his mother suddenly collapsed in the kitchen. Milless called his grandmother, who in turn called her son, Milless' father, who was traveling out of state at the time.

Milless' father then called to tell him to call 911 and unlock the front door so the paramedics could get in. Milless then hooked up his mother's nebulizer, got it working, and then took his two siblings - a 2-year-old and a 10-month-old - out from the kitchen so they wouldn't see their mother in distress.

Paramedics arrived and were able to take Milless' mother to the hospital. She had pneumonia and influenza A that had gotten so bad, she had gone into septic shock, the sheriff's office said. Doctors said that if Milless hadn't called 911, she probably would not be alive. 

Milless' mother has since made a full recovery.