A ten-year-old saved his mother's life when she suffered a mild stroke just two weeks before she was due to give birth to her daughter.

Joshua Rudd was off school with flu when he found his mother Pennie, 29, collapsed at their Seaford home.

She had lost her speech and all movement on her right side.

Realising his mother was ill and unable to speak, Joshua phoned the family doctor to explain the situation.

He was advised to call an ambulance so he could talk to the emergency operator until paramedics arrived.

The operator spoke to Joshua to keep him calm and asked him to describe where he lived..

Joshua then went in the ambulance with his mother to Eastbourne District General Hospital, sitting next to the driver.

Pennie said: "They put the sirens on. He must have thought he was going to lose his little sister. It must have been horrific for him."

Thanks to Joshua's quick action, the pregnancy was saved and Pennie recovered.

Following the drama and with his father away Joshua proved to be Pennie's rock again nearly three weeks later when she went into labour.

Her father Rupert Shoolbred drove her and Joshua to hospital and dropped them outside the entrance.

Pennie said: "Joshua took me down to the delivery suite. It hadn't been a simple labour and I was in quite a lot of pain and almost passing out.

"He was able to lead me to the delivery suite and inform everybody I was in labour.

"Again he was my star, my guardian angel."

Baby Molly was born an hour later and mother and daughter are doing fine.

Since Pennie was discharged, Joshua, a pupil at Cradle Hill School, Seaford, has continued to help care for his mother at his grandparents.

He makes her drinks and sandwiches and dotes on Molly.

Pennie said: "I'm very tired, I feel exhausted but he's just been amazing."

She added: "I can't give Josh the attention that I would love to do. I just feel he's brilliant. I don't know how to thank him.

"The one thing I can do is to take him to Disneyland in Paris - probably next Christmas, to give me time to save up."