It’s not often that a child becomes the hero of a story, but that’s exactly how the parents of an 8-year-old Rhode Island boy describe their son after his quick thinking saved his father during an emergency.

The incident occurred when Ben Nascenzi was working on the roof in the backyard of their home near Providence. He fell, hitting his head on a window box, and lay bleeding on the ground. 

Hearing the commotion from the dogs barking, his young, Nova, rushed outside and found his father unconscious and bleeding.

“For a minute, he was unconscious, but I knew he was alive because he was breathing,” Nova recounted to WJAR-TV, which first reported the remarkable story.

Nova sprang into action with a level of composure that would impress many adults, grabbing a towel from the kitchen to stop the bleeding and trying to keep his father awake while searching for a phone to call 911. 

When he couldn’t find his dad’s phone, Nova ran to a neighbor’s house for help, but no one was home. Undeterred, he returned to the house, found a spare phone in his dad’s truck, and successfully called for help.

“They asked me my name, my birthday, and where we live,” Nova said, recalling the 911 call.

Nova’s mother, who was at work when the accident happened, said that while they had talked about emergency situations with Nova, they never expected him to handle one so adeptly. 

“We discuss it occasionally, but you don’t want to scare your child,” she said. “Now, I realize how important those talks were.”

The senior Nascenzi was taken to the hospital, where he received nine staples in his head and treatment for several broken ribs and a partially collapsed lung. Reflecting on the experience, he expressed profound pride in his boy. 

“Proud doesn’t even begin to cover it. He’s a hero,” Nascenzi said.