A 12-year-old boy managed to take control of his mum’s car and save ‘countless lives’ after she passed out at the wheel going 60mph.
Zac Howells saved the lives of both himself and his mum Nicola Crump as they were driving to a Christmas market last Saturday from Ebbw Vale, South Wales, to Wellesbourne Airfield in Warwickshire.
But the 37-year-old began feeling ill, and soon fainted with her foot on the accelerator before she could wheel the car to safety on the A40 near Ross-on-Wye in Herefordshire.
She said: ‘We left the house at 5.30am and everything was fine. We didn’t have breakfast because we were planning on getting a McDonald’s on the way.
‘I wound my window down and managed to take my coat off. I could feel myself going, I was in buckets of sweat. I said to Zac: “I’m going, I don’t feel well”.’
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She tried to pull the car to safety on the dual carriageway, but was barely able to do this before passing out.
She said: ‘There was no proper hard shoulder, just a small verge – so more than half of my car remained in the live lane.
‘The last thing I remember is a lorry going past. Then I fainted before I had managed to put the car into park mode.’
As Nicola fainted, her foot pressed on the gas pedal, accelerating her car across the lanes on the dual carriageway at around 60mph.
But Zac managed to lean across and steer the car onto a grassy central reservation to slow the vehicle down and call 999.
He said: ‘I was really scared but I knew I had to do something.
‘When I was on the phone to 999, I saw her belly was moving so I knew she was breathing.’
He was also able to use the stop-start button to turn off the engine, and passing cars were able to whizz past without having to veer out of the way.
Nicola was unconcscious for around eight minutes, and said the next thing she remembers is seeing blue-lights come towards her.
She said: ‘Zac seemed to be so calm. He turned the engine off because there’s a stop-start button on my car and when the police needed the satnav he turned it back on to give them the road. It was such quick thinking, it’s incredible.’
Nicola fainted due to low blood pressure and has been referred to a cardiologist for more tests before she can get behind the wheel.
West Mercia Police have since invited Zac to their headquarters to present him with a certificate for his bravery.
Nicola said: ‘He literally saved our lives and who knows who else’s lives. Thank God he thought so quickly and was so brave because we both could’ve died. You don’t prepare for anything like that!
‘It was just incredible – his quick thinking, the way he stayed so calm, the way he spoke to the police, the way he reassured me. He wasn’t panicking, he was just unbelievable.’
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