He then felt a tingle in his mouth, and tried to text his wife Liz, a nurse at Tauranga Hospital, but was unable to operate the cellphone.
"My left arm wasn't working and my head collapsed on to the kitchen bench," Mr Smith said.
He managed to call to Jordan through his slurred speech, who heard his father calling and quickly came to his aid.
"He asked if he looked ok, I said 'your eyes are a bit watery and bloodshot'," Jordan said.
However the fit, healthy and non-smoking 43-year-old was suffering from a stroke.
"I put him on the office chair and he started leaning to the left side," Jordan said.
He wheeled him over to the couch but "he kept falling off," Jordan said.
Jordan rang his mother who told Jordan to call 111.
He said he did not have time to think, and told the 111 operators "my dad can't speak properly".
The emergency staff were able to use a medicine on Mr Smith which returned him to full health.
"It has a four-hour window, so time is of the essence," Mrs Smith said.
"It's thanks to Jordan for his quick response. If he hadn't, he probably would still have the weakness. We're very lucky he was at home."
Jordan said he had felt a bit scared at the time, and spent the ambulance ride "wondering if dad was going to be ok".
Mr Smith was released from hospital yesterday afternoon, after the family spent Christmas Day in ICU.
"It was the scariest episode of my life. The fact that he was so calm the whole way through, I knew he had everything under control," Mr Smith said.
Jordan, who will be attending Aquinas College next year, was hailed as a "little hero" by the staff at A&E for his flawless response.
Mr Smith said Jordan even turned off the oven, and prevented the ham from overcooking.
What to look for:
* To notice the signs of someone experiencing a stroke, remember:
* F - Face: Smile, is one side drooping?
* A - Arms: Raise both arms, is one weaker?
* S - Speech: Speak, are words jumbled, slurred or undetectable?
* T - Time: Act fast, call 111.
- stroke.org.nz
