A woman has praised the 'little genius' who helped save her life as she lay in the street suffering an asthma attack.

Hayley Sorenti, a 42-year-old mother of three, was walking her dogs in Old Catton, when she collapsed.

Four friends on a bike ride stopped to help her and called an ambulance on a mobile phone.

One of them, Ethan Jones, 12, from Spencer Road, Fiddlewood, spoke to the ambulance service on the phone and kept urging Mrs Sorenti to 'Breathe, please Miss', while they waited for an ambulance.

The youngsters met up with Mrs Sorenti at Ethan's home on the weekend, where she got the chance to thank them individually.

Mrs Sorenti, from St Faiths Road, said: 'I'm a bad asthmatic and foolishly did not take my inhaler when I took the dogs out for a walk. I had an attack and was lying on the floor, when they stopped to help.

'Ethan called 999 for an ambulance, and kept on the phone while we waited. He was told to keep reassuring me and kept saying 'Everything is going to be all right'.

'He kept telling me to 'breathe, please Miss'. He saved the day and was a little genius. I was trying to tell him what to do but I could not speak.

'The paramedics later said that he and the others had saved my life.'

The other children involved were Jessica Jolly, 12, Rory Caley, 12, and Lewis Brandish, 13, who are all from the Old Catton area.

The group said they were all 'proud' of what they had done.

Jessica said: 'We stopped because she was lying on the floor and she was struggling to breathe.'

Lewis' mother Rebecca Bennett said: 'I'm really proud of all of them. Until you are faced with a situation like that, you don't know how you will react. They were all very mature and worked together as a team.'

The three 12-year-olds all belong to the 44th Norwich Scouts, and learned first aid there.

Mrs Sorenti, who is a carer, gave the youngsters £10 and a thank-you card to share between them and said she was very proud of what they had done.

She had been walking her puppies in Taylors Lane, about 10 minutes from her home, when it happened at about 3pm on Sunday, December 28. She was taken to the Norfolk and Norwich University hospital and later discharged.

Have you got a special reason to be proud of your child? Email david.bale2@archant.co.uk