Incredible moment boy, eight, takes the wheel to steer car to safety when his mother is hit by seizure while driving at 65mph on busy dual carriageway
- Lauren Smith was travelling at 65mph along dual carriageway near Colchester
- She suffered a serious seizure and began to crash into the central reservation
- Her son Ben Hedges leapt from passenger seat and steered them to safety
Teaching assistant Lauren Smith (left) was in the car with her eight-year-old son Ben Hedges when she suffered a seizure
This is the incredible moment a quick-thinking eight-year-old boy grabs the steering wheel and drives his mother’s speeding car to safety after she suffered a seizure while driving.
Lauren Smith was travelling at 65mph in her Ford Ka along the A120 dual carriageway when she had an attack.
The 27-year-old started to shake and her hands gripped to the steering wheel as the vehicle smashed and scraped the central reservation during the incident on December 3.
Footage of the moments after Ms Smith’s seizure shows her son Ben Hedges, eight, calmly controlling the vehicle and driving it onto a grass verge before stopping behind a van.
Ben leapt from his front passenger seat and took hold of the wheel, before guiding the out-of-control car across two lanes and safely onto the grass next to the hard shoulder during his mothers seizure.
The quick-thinking primary school pupil even put the hazard warning lights on during the incident near Colchester, Essex.
Dashcam footage from a vehicle behind shows Ms Smith’s vehicle heading towards the verge
Footage from a car behind’s dashcam shows Ms Smith’s car being steered along the grass by Ben and other vehicles coming to a stop to help.
The driver can be heard saying ‘something’s wrong’ as he slows the car down and Ms Smith’s silver Ford Ka comes into view.
The cars in front put on their hazard lights and multiple vehicles in the left hand lane move into the right to give the Ka being controlled by Ben more space.
As the driver gets closer to the Ka it can be seen moving up the grass verge before coming to a stop behind a van which has also pulled over to try and help.
Ms Smith was rushed to hospital where emergency services carried out a series of test which found she suffered a seizure for the first time – making her son’s reactions even more remarkable.
The silver Ford Ka, being steered by Ben, drives up the grass before stopping behind a van
The quick-thinking eight-year-old managed to guide the pair to safety after his mother had a seizure
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Ms Smith praised her son’s action for saving both their lives.
Speaking about the crash, Ms Smith said: ‘I was driving really erratically – that went on for a good minute and then I just collapsed at the wheel, let go and fell completely unconscious – my head was resting on the steering wheel.’
She said her son grabbed the steering wheel and managed to guide them to safety after she completely blacked out and they scraped along the side of the central reservation.
‘The car was really shaking as it slowed down because it was still in fifth gear before it finally cut out.
The Ford Ka crashed into the side of a central reservation near Colchester before it was eventually guided to safety
‘About four or five people in a van came rushing over to check we were okay,’ she added.
They were rushed to Colchester General Hospital but they managed to escape without any injuries.
Ms Smith, a teaching assistant, had no memory of what she had done in the previous 24 hours.
She said: ‘It was at that point the people who stopped to help us came over and said “madam, you’ve just had a full-blown seizure, you’ve crashed your car and the ambulance is on its way”.
‘As I came around, the ambulance was arriving. It took me a really long time to register it – and I just could not believe it.’
Ms Smith, a teaching assistant, had no memory of what she had done in the previous 24 hours before her seizure
She described her son as a ‘hero’ for his bravery. She said: ‘I am still in shock that he knew what to do. He’s my hero.
‘I keep thinking about what would have happened if he had not acted so quickly, I hate to think how it could have ended.
‘I am so grateful and I’ve been telling him over and over again, “what you did was amazing, you literally are a lifesaver” so he realises what he has done – it’s a big deal.’
Doctors have been unable to identify the cause of the seizure but believe it to be because of a virus. The attack has left her in pain and she will not be given the all-clear to drive by doctors.
Ben’s headteacher at Chase Lane Primary School in Dovercourt, Essex, where his mother also works, praised the year-four pupil.
Headteacher Julie O’Mara said: ‘I’d like to commend Ben for his bravery – without his actions it could have been a tragic accident.
‘For someone so young to have displayed such bravery, maturity and quick-thinking is very impressive.
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