Mom Couldn’t Keep Son’s Blood Sugar Under Control, Eventually, She Called 911 — on Herself

On the evening of July 31, a Utah mother of four made a 911 call—but not for a fire, a break-in, or a medical emergency involving one of her children.

Kylie Grimes says she felt alone and overwhelmed after a particularly hard night at home. She needed help and didn’t know who else to call.

The moment came after months of upheaval for Kylie and her husband, Kyle. Earlier this year, two of their children—Noble, now 15 months, and Goldie, 6—were diagnosed with type 1 diabetes within months of each other, despite no family history of the condition.

In April, Noble, then 7 months, was hospitalized for three nights after parainfluenza and walking pneumonia. About three weeks later, after the older children—Goldie, Royal, 10, and Ellie, 11—left for school, Noble began vomiting at home. Kylie, 35, assumed it was a stomach flu, but out of caution she and Kyle brought him back to the hospital. That’s where Noble was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes.

As the couple was learning to manage his condition, another shock arrived 63 days later. The kids were playing with Noble’s glucose monitor to check their own blood sugar levels. When Goldie tested herself, the reading was 416 (Kylie notes that a typical range for a 6-year-old is around 90 to 180). Medical professionals told Kylie to bring Goldie to the hospital, where she received the same diagnosis.

With Kyle, 38, often away running a cleaning business, Kylie says the daily reality of caring for four children—two with diabetes—left her sleep-deprived and regularly stressed. Still, she says she had never hesitated to “take everything on.”

That changed on the night of July 31, when she was home alone with the kids and struggling to stabilize Noble’s blood sugar.

“Before I know it,” she says, “I am looking at the clock and it’s like 9, and I haven’t made dinner for anyone. So we’re way past bedtime now.”

Kylie asked her older children to watch Noble while she started dinner. Minutes later, another crisis hit.

“[Noble] had come crawling to my feet and I turned around and his face is all black,” she recalls. “I came walking over to the side and my kids were all gone. No one was watching the baby, and he had gotten into my plant. He was eating potting soil.”

She immediately called poison control, who told her he likely hadn’t ingested enough to cause harm. But the adrenaline and exhaustion caught up with her. After the call, she says she sat on the kitchen floor crying.

“My kids come up to me and they’re asking where dinner is, and I just completely lose it,” she says.

Overwhelmed and hyperventilating, she phoned Kyle and told him she needed him to come home and help. When he said he was 30 minutes away, Kylie replied, “That’s not long enough,” and hung up.

Then she called 911.

“The dispatcher’s like, ‘Okay, where’s the emergency?’ And I said, ‘I just can’t do this anymore. I’m overwhelmed. I just need help,’” Kylie recalls. “She’s like, ‘I don’t understand what’s the emergency?’ And I said, ‘Me. I’m the emergency.’”

The dispatcher asked if Kylie planned to harm herself or her children. Kylie said no—she just needed a minute and wanted to be sure her kids were safe.

Kylie stayed on the phone while sitting on the porch holding Noble, and she told her three older children to remain inside. Within minutes, an officer arrived, followed by other first responders, as Kylie sobbed.

“I can’t even answer the officer, because I’m like, ‘What do I say? I’m overwhelmed as a mom.’ That sounds like the stupidest thing in the world,” she says.

By the time Kyle arrived home, first responders were gathered around his wife. After determining she wasn’t a threat to herself or her family, they connected her with a social worker who shared resources and information.

“We get off the phone and I go back up the stairs,” Kylie says, “and I put my kids to bed and I put myself to bed.”

Looking back, Kylie describes that night as a turning point.

“This was the first time that I was like, ‘I can’t do this by myself,’” she says. Since then, she adds, she’s “gotten better about asking for help.”

In the aftermath, Kyle’s mother came to stay with the family, a neighbor volunteered to help with chores, and Kylie says Kyle has stepped in more.

“People [were] showing up for us when I am desperately trying to figure out how to care for my wife as she’s desperately trying to care for our children,” Kyle says.

Earlier this year, Kylie began sharing daily accounts of their life on social media. In August—about a month after the 911 call—she posted an image on TikTok showing herself on the porch with a first responder beside her. The caption read: “I called the cops on myself.”

She says sharing it felt “extremely vulnerable,” but she’s heard from others who said it helped them feel seen—and thanked her for being open.

Now, the couple says they hope to raise awareness about infant diabetes and caregiver burnout, while building community among families navigating similar challenges.

“One of our biggest things through this experience is, ‘It’s okay to not be okay.’ Hopefully this story can reach one more person to realize ‘You’re not alone,’” Kyle says.

“To be open and honest with our feelings can help your life and help save another,” Kylie adds. “Vulnerability is a strength, not a weakness.”