Nicola Crump, 37, was driving to a Christmas markets shopping trip with her son Zac Howells, 12, when she began to feel ill behind the wheel
A hero schoolboy saved his mum’s life when she collapsed behind the wheel on a Christmas shopping trip – and steered their car to safety.
Nicola Crump, 37, was driving to a Christmas markets shopping trip with her son Zac Howells, 12, when she began to feel ill behind the wheel. She was on a dual carriageway when she told Zac she feared she may pass out, then hit her hazard lights and pulled her handbrake.
But Nicola fainted before she could wheel the car to safety. So Zac calmly leaned across and steered the car towards the central reservation and dialled 999.
Nicola said Zac only agreed to accompany her on the 105-mile journey from Ebbw Vale, South Wales, to Birmingham to visit the Christmas markets when her friend cancelled on her the day before.
She said: “We left the house at half past five and everything was fine. We didn’t have breakfast because we were waiting to get a McDonalds on the way.
“We got from Ebbw Vale to Ross-On-Wye and all of a sudden I started feeling really hot. I wound my window down, I managed to take my coat off, and then within seconds I said to Zac ‘I’m going, I don’t feel well’.
“I was on a dual carriageway with no hard shoulder so I put my hazards on but I passed out before I could put my handbrake on. As I passed out I must’ve hit my accelerator and then I just I remember waking up and Zac was on the phone to 999.”
Nicola was unconscious for around seven or eight minutes as Zac manoeuvred the car into the central reservation to slow it down on the bumpy grass before turning it off. He then dialled 999 and gave the emergency services their location on the A40 road.
Nicola said: “He 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 was found to be suffering from low blood pressure and is awaiting further tests before she gets back behind the wheel. Zac was praised by police and paramedics for averting a potential horror smash.
“He literally saved our lives and who knows who else’s lives,” Nicola said.
“I just felt so guilty, I was watching him and he was telling me not to worry. It’s playing on me how scared he must have felt. 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. He really is my little hero.”
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