Dave McEvoy, 21, of Aysgarth Drive, Lupset, and mum Jackie have just returned from a trip to West Virginia where they were awarded honorary citizenship for their life-saving actions.
From their home in the UK the pair successfully directed West Virginia State police to the house of internet friend Linda Bundy after they became convinced she and her children were suffering from carbon monoxide poisoning.
Paramedics successfully reached the remote farm to find Linda and daughter Brandi unconscious, and son Brenton in a coma.
On the evening of the incident, Dave returned home from his job as a taxi controller to find Jackie, 46, extremely worried. She had been talking to friend Mrs Bundy, 48, on the internet.
Over the past weeks Linda, who lives with her two children Brenton, 13, and Brandi, 11, in Amma, West Virginia, had expressed concerns about her son's health. He was sleeping for up to 19 hours a day and when he was awake he was dozy and nauseous.
Trained first-aider Dave said: "That evening, on the internet, Linda told my mum that she and her daughter now had the same symptoms. When she dozed off mid-sentence we knew something was wrong."
Dave called US emergency services 911 and gave them the only information he had about Linda – her name and the area she lived in.
Without Dave's quick thinking, the family would have been slowly poisoned to death by a leaking gas pipe under their house.
Dave and Jackie were both invited to West Virginia where they were hailed as heroes. On arrival in the US they were presented with an honorary mountaineers certificate, which entitles them to live in the state without a visa.
Dave said: "We just did what we thought we had to. We weren't trying to be heroes, we were just worried about our friend. The treatment we received in West Virginia is amazing – we were treated like celebrities."