MCKINNEY, Texas — A North Texas community is honoring a local teen as an example of how to react in an emergency situation, and it’s an example that a young man has set twice.

First responders gathered at one of the City of McKinney’s fire stations on June 25 to honor 13 year-old Xavier Allen and his mother Camille Allen. The duo’s family looked on as the teen received several life-saver awards from city staff and from doctors at Baylor Scott & White Medical Center - McKinney where Allen got life-saving care after Xavier Allen sprang into action.

That action came this past spring when Xavier Allen said he and his mom were getting in the car to go and get some food, and she became suddenly ill.

“It was, yeah, it was scary,” said Xavier Allen. “My mom started to act weird and couldn’t talk.”

The teen said he quickly concluded that she was having some sort of medical emergency, an emergency that doctors say was a stroke from a blood clot.

Xavier Allen acted fast.

“I then called 911,” he said. “When the ambulance pulled up, I was really nervous when the ambulance pulled up, cause I didn’t know what was going to happen.”

At that point, paramedics Dustin Musick and James Mathews got out of the ambulance and starting bringing Camille and Xavier Allen to the hospital for help. The medics said they were instantly impressed by the 13-year-old’s ability to keep it together in the crisis situation and quick action to help his mom.

“It was just phenomenal that he was the one that started all of this, calling 911, calling EMS to get the ball rolling to save his mom’s life,” said Mathews.

As they got Camille Allen to the emergency room and spoke to Xavier Allen more, the medics said they were floored to learn he had already been in this scenario. Camille Allen said when Xavier Allen was 7, she suffered a stroke as well and even at that young age, he knew to act fast, called 911, and got her to help without lasting consequences.

Camille Allen’s doctors told the crowd in the McKinney fire station that quick action can be the difference maker when dealing with a stroke, and in this case Xavier Allen’s action again prevented his mom from having any lasting effects from the emergency.

Camille Allen said she’s now feeling better than ever and has her son to thank … again.