TORONTO (Reuters) - Canadian police were calling a nine-year-old boy a hero after he phoned 911 to report that he was riding in a van with his mother who was driving drunk.

The Toronto-area woman has been charged with impaired driving, according to police, who received the emergency call from the child on a cell phone Wednesday afternoon.

The boy did not speak during the call, but the operator called back and calmed the crying child. He was then able to give their location, the type of vehicle and direction in which they were traveling.

Near the end of a seven-minute call, the mother got on the phone to say she had a drink at lunch and everything was fine. When told to pull over and stop the car, she hung up.

After police intercepted the vehicle, they gave the 52-year-old woman a breath test that showed more than twice the legal limit of alcohol. The boy was turned over to this father.

“He’s a hero, absolutely,” York Regional Police Constable Andy Pattenden said on Friday.

“To not only know what was going on was wrong, but to actually do something about it and pick up that phone and make that call is extraordinary,” he said.