He interpreted his mother’s advice quite literally when she told him to call 911 if he needed help. Now a young boy is being praised for his spunky efforts in problem-solving.

Having learned from his mother to call 911 in a situation he needs assistance, a four-year-old boy petitioned the support of an emergency dispatcher with a puzzling problem… it left him stumped.

Years ago, a four-year-old boy named Johnny dialed 911, desperately seeking assistance.

When the dispatcher answered the call, Johnny quickly and confidently said, “yeah, I need some help.”

“What’s the matter?” the concerned operator asked.

“With my math,” the boy replied.

Believing Johnny was asking for help with his “mouth,” dispatch asked where he lived, prompting Johnny to emphatically say, “No with my math. I have to do it. Will you help me?”

Patiently, the operator asked where he lived but Johnny insisted they continue talking on the phone.

Still uneasy and wanting to send an officer to his location, the kind man on the other end said, “No, I can’t do that but I can send someone else to help you.”

The child was persuasive.

Empathizing with the boy’s battle with numbers, he asked, “What kind of math do you have that you need help with?”

Explaining he had “take aways,” the operator understood that Johnny meant subtractions.

“16 take away 8 is what?” Johnny said, appealing for some help.

Encouraging him to hazard a guess, instead of providing the answer, the operator said, “How much do you think it is?”

When Johnny answered “1” dispatch recognized he was very young and asked for his age. Hearing Johnny was “only four,” the operator started playing along.

“What’s another problem? That was a tough one,” he said, his gentle behavior feeding the enthusiasm of his young caller.