The quick thinking of a Wyoming freshman proved to be the difference between life and death for his beloved grandmother, whom he found unconscious on the floor one morning before school.
Mason Rasmussen, six, heroically saved the life of his 54-year-old grandmother, who doubles as a caregiver, after dressing himself, going to school and reporting that his grandmother had “died,” ultimately prompting EMS to her was sent home.
On the morning of December 19, Mason awoke to his grandmother’s alarm clock and found her unconscious, lying on the floor of her bedroom.
His grandmother, Kimberly Gibson, has Type 1 diabetes, she said Cowboy stands daily.
She later opened up about the nerve-wracking incident, claiming her blood sugar levels dropped to dangerously low levels while she slept.
“I had been treating myself once a night, and that wasn’t enough,” Gibson said.
From her later conversations with her grandson, she recalled that she may have been having a seizure at the time he discovered her.
Mason then said he tried to put his grandmother in a chair.
Six-year-old Mason Rasmussen of Wyoming heroically saved the life of his 54-year-old grandmother, Kimberly Gibson, after getting dressed, going to school and reporting that his grandmother had “died” — eventually sending paramedics to her home sent
On the morning of December 19, Mason (pictured) woke to his grandmother’s alarm to find his caregiver unconscious, lying on the floor of her bedroom.
“I tried to blow air into your body, but it didn’t work,” Gibson recalled Mason’s memory of the near-fatal December morning, Cowboy State Daily reported.
Later, a second alarm went off, signaling Mason to get to his bus and to school.
Quickly and with the calmness of an adult, he then dressed himself – all by himself.
Wearing cargo shorts, a T-shirt and cowboy boots without socks in subzero temperatures, his teacher quickly recognized that something was wrong.
“The school quickly noticed that he was not dressed as he should be,” Sweetwater County Sheriff’s Detective Stephanie Cassidy said.
‘They said: normally he is a very well-groomed child. Well dressed and well mannered.’
His teacher, Caroline Pierpoint, asked her poorly dressed student what had happened this morning, to which he replied, “My grandmother is home alone and she passed away this morning.”
Pierpoint then told the school principal, who in turn called Sweetwater County Dispatch, Gibson recalled.
The school, Stagecoach Elementary School, also notified Gibson’s husband, Cory Gibson, of the chilling incident, even though he worked at a power plant at the time, about an hour’s drive from their home in Rock Springs.
First responders were immediately dispatched to Mason and Gibson’s home, where they found the 54-year-old still alive and provided life-saving care.
In the meantime, Cassidy, who heard the commotion on her radio, went to Mason’s school to visit him after hearing the news from his likely deceased guardian.
But while checking on the grief-stricken boy, another deputy, Ana Lindig, who was on the scene, called Cassidy and told her that Gibson was alive and receiving care.
“I was like, ‘Oh thank God,'” she recalled.
Then she remembered turning to Mason, “You know what, buddy, I think your grandma is going to be okay. She’s at an ambulance now.’
In the days following the harrowing incident, Sweetwater County police rewarded the brave and smart boy with a framed bravery certificate and goodie package. Pictured: Mason with his award alongside Deputies Nathaniel Hull and Zachary Otte, Detective Stephanie Cassidy and Deputy Ana Lindig
Cassidy noticed the change in the boy’s expression, from the early stages of sadness, to elation, and then to shock.
“I couldn’t imagine the roller coaster he was on,” Cassidy said.
In the days following the harrowing incident, Sweetwater County police rewarded the brave and smart boy with a framed bravery certificate and goodie package.
“Just to say, ‘You did the right thing, and you were so brave, and you ended up saving Grandma’s life,'” Cassidy said, hoping Mason would associate “something positive” with the experience.
Sweetwater County spokesman Jason Mower said in a news release Monday that the award was intended to recognize the boy remaining calm under pressure and telling a trusted adult about the crisis he witnessed.
Cassidy and the officers who had helped his grandmother went to Gibson’s home Friday and presented Mason with his bravery award.
“There’s something in him, he’s a good boy,” she said.