Ronaldo Hendricks all dressed for school. Contributed Photos
Janet Silvera, Gleaner Writer
WESTERN BUREAU: A woman who was six months pregnant when she had a seizure behind the steering wheel of her Toyota Corolla motor car two weeks ago is hailing her 10-year-old son, Ronaldo Hendricks, as a hero.
Tennielle Green, who spent 10 days at the Cornwall Regional Hospital, delivered a premature baby girl weighing a mere two pounds, is now out of danger, while her baby remains in intensive care.
Green, who is having her first daughter and second child, says the pregnancy was a few days shy of seven months.
Young Ronaldo, recalling the incident that could have seen him losing both his mother and sibling, said it was approximately 6:30 p.m. two Fridays ago that his mother was driving him to his grandmother's house in Norwood, St James, when he noticed she seemed disoriented.
"She first started shaking, then it seemed like she was having a seizure and the car was pulling to both sides of the road," said Ronaldo, a grade-five student of Supreme Preparatory.
"I realised something was wrong, as she wasn't seeing where she was going, so I jumped in front of the steering wheel, pulled up the handbrake and switched off the engine and called for help," Ronaldo told The Gleaner.
"I then ran out of the car calling for help," he said, adding that a man who heard his calls came to their rescue. It was the good Samaritan who called for an ambulance that transported both mother and unborn baby to safety at Cornwall Regional.
Green said the baby is doing fine, but will remain in hospital for the next month.
"Her lungs have matured, and the doctors are trying to wean her from the oxygen she was on," said Green.
Today, Green says she has no idea what happened and feels she was in a daze even before she went into the car.
"I have no idea going into the car or driving off," she said. "I remember nothing at all, not even going to the hospital. I can only remember waking up there."
She had never had a seizure before.
Green said doctors indicated it was caused by her blood pressure going above normal.
"The doctors say it could have been the baby."
She said there are no words to describe what her son had done for her.
"It proves to me the importance of teaching your children everything, preparing them for any eventualities."
"If he wasn't there, neither me nor baby Renique would be here today," said Green, a product control analyst at Xerox in Montego Bay.
janet.silvera@gleanerjm.com