Earlier this year, on a "completely normal" Tuesday afternoon in Gundaroo, the unthinkable happened.
To ease "a flu that I just couldn't shake", Shelley Richardson, 43, ran a scorching hot bubble bath, climbed in and laid down. Within minutes, the senior public servant had fainted – and she slowly sank under the water and started to drown.
She owes her life to her 10-year-old son Heath McDonald, who on Friday was awarded a joint ACT/NSW Ambulance Service Commendation for his bravery and actions on that horrific day in July.
"I feel happy and very proud," Heath said. "But I was nervous getting up in front of the whole school to receive it."
The North Ainslie Primary School student was playing Minecraft on his PC on the afternoon of the incident. He had earplugs in but heard "a strange banging noise in the bathroom" – that sound was Shelley's body convulsing in the bath. A lack of oxygen to the brain had caused her to have a seizure.
Heath knocked twice before opening the door and seeing his mum slipping under the bubbles. He lifted her face just above water level to keep her alive. Despite being in a deep panic, and only nine years old at the time, Heath realised he could pull the plug and drain the bath, removing any further threat of drowning.
"At the start her eyes were rolling back in her head," he said. "I was scared. Then I just got the home phone and called triple-0 – I was multi-tasking. I knew my address and I said mum was 42 when she's really 43."
The audio footage of the triple-0 call, provided to the family for medical reasons, is confronting. It starts with a distressed Heath pleading for help from an ambulance officer before – unbelievably – thinking about who else might need to know about the incident.
"It was just amazing."
Shelley was taken to The Canberra Hospital for treatment, and sustained minor brain injury as a result of a lack of oxygen to her brain. She has spent the past four months having tests at TCH, ruling out potential causes for her seizure including brain tumour or epilepsy. Fortunately those things have been ruled out.
"They think I just fainted and when I started to drown my throat closed and that stopped the oxygen flowing," Shelley said. "I had low vitamin D because it was winter, and very low blood pressure – which I had no idea about – and that caused me to faint."
Her return to part-time work at the Department of Industry last week was a major milestone.
"There's a bit of a way to go but my brain will recover 100 per cent," she said. "But the message I really want to reinforce is if you are unwell, don't get into a hot bath, because you can faint, and if you do, you can die."
ACT Ambulance Service acting chief officer Peter Le Lievre said Heath McDonald was a fantastic role model and an excellent example of what to do in an emergency situation.
"He rang triple-0, he remained calm, he listened when he was asked a question and he answered all questions to the best of his knowledge," Mr Le Lievre said. "He took the direction of the ambulance officer on the other end of the phone and he's just done a really good job."
Mr Le Lievre encouraged parents to have a chat to their children this weekend on what to do in an emergency.
"There's also another number – 112 – if kids are on a mobile phone and it's locked, they can ring 112 which is the same as triple-0."
Heath's official commendation has taken pride of place on the mantel above the fireplace at the family's home at Gundaroo.
"If Heath hadn't have been there I would have drowned – I'm very lucky. Lucky to be alive," Shelley said.