A RELIEVED father praised his two quick-thinking children for saving his life after he slipped into a diabetic coma.
Robert Layne, 31, of Woodland Drive, Clayton-le-Moors, has type one diabetes, which means he has to take two insulin injections a day before meals.
While his wife Wendy was out at Blackburn College, he fell into a coma while cooking tea after his sugar levels dipped dangerously low.
His daughter, four-year-old Kara, noticed he was ill and his stepson Ryan, 12, went to get help from neighbours. After failing to attract attention, he rang for an ambulance.
Mr Layne said: "I don't know what the consequences would have been if I had been left, but I know they would not have been good. I am really proud of what they did.
"As soon as the paramedics came, Ryan told them I was diabetic and they were able to get me on a glucose drip to stabilise my sugar levels."
Mr Layne, who used to work as a computer programmer in Manchester, was diagnosed with diabetes in 1996.
He added: "It is all a little hazy. I just remember waking up on the settee with two paramedics standing over me. I think I just flaked out.
"Ryan was upset because he felt he had let me down, but he did exactly the right thing.
"He had never been in that position before and he was brilliant."
Alan Slater of Accring-ton Ambulance Station, said: "Ryan had the presence of mind to give his dad some Coca Cola but he couldn't get him to drink it. When it didn't go down, he acted very quickly and maturely by calling 999.
"Ryan did very well and his family should be very proud of him."
