Security boy honored for calmness in crisis

A week before Halloween last year, Jason Musgrove got the scare of his life. His mother's heart started racing and she fainted.

So the 10-year-old did as his mom had taught him in an emergency. He dialed 911.

He reported his mother's diabetic attack and stayed on the phone with a sheriff's dispatcher, monitoring her condition while waiting for medics to arrive at his home on Witches Hollow Lane in Security.

"Her heart is beating real fast," he told dispatcher Sue Aragon, "and she's shaking really bad."

Upon Aragon's instructions, the boy made sure the front door was unlocked and that the family dog, a Chihuahua named Chico, was put in a room so it wouldn't bother medics when they got there.

For all that, the North Elementary School fifth-grader got a medal, a certificate, and, best of all, a coupon for a free pizza, in a ceremony in front of hundreds of school mates on Monday.

He also got a handshake from El Paso County Sheriff Terry Maketa.

"The 911 phone system is very important," Maketa told the students. "We all know it's very serious. That's why we take time out to recognize someone who uses the system to maybe save a life."

Maketa commended Jason, now 11, for his "maturity and bravery in staying calm."

Nothing to it, Jason said later. "I felt fine," he said. "If you're worried, you'll be shaken up, too. I just took the pressure off of me."

That reaction was a bit unexpected for his mom, Tabatha Carrillo, who said her son can be emotional.

"I was surprised he took charge of everything," she said.