Boy, 8, steers out-of-control car to safety after mother suffers a seizure at wheel

Lauren Smith had picked up her son, Ben, from school and was driving along the busy dual carriageway
Lauren Smith
Benedict Moore-Bridger6 December 2018

A boy aged eight steered his mother’s out-of-control car to safety when she suffered a seizure at the wheel.

Primary school pupil Ben Smith guided the car across two lanes of traffic on a dual carriageway before bringing it to halt on a grass verge.

His mother, Lauren Smith, 27, began violently shaking as they were driving along the A120 near Colchester, Essex, in her Ford Ka on Monday.

Despite blacking out, the teaching assistant was still gripping the wheel tightly as her car began careering along at 60mph.

The pair was travelling at around 60 miles per hour when Ms Smith suddenly went into a seizure
Lauren Smith

Ms Smith said today: “Ben’s quick-thinking saved our lives. I’ve never had a seizure before so he had no idea what to expect. As soon as he realised I was unresponsive and the car was driving erratically, he knew he had to act fast.

“We were in the left-hand lane and initially swerved into the right-hand lane and crashed into the central reservation, scraping along it. I’m grateful both of us somehow got out unharmed. I hate to think how it would have ended if I was in that car on my own.”

Ben steered the car to the hard shoulder and put on its hazard lights. He was about to ring 999 from his mother’s phone when another motorist came to help. Ms Smith’s seizure lasted for between five and 10 minutes before she finally regained consciousness.

Ben steered the car to the hard shoulder and put on its hazard lights 
Lauren Smith

She added: “Ben was able to tell his name, my name and our full home address to the driver. I was still having a seizure and unaware of anything going on. My son is my hero and he deserves recognition for his bravery and quick-thinking.

"I don’t know how he knew what to do — I certainly wouldn’t have done at his age. The paramedics said they were amazed at how he reacted.”

A spokesman for the East of England Ambulance Service said: “One patient was taken to Colchester General Hospital for treatment.”

Ms Smith, who works at Chase Lane Primary School in Dovercourt, Essex, told the Standard that doctors have not been able to pinpoint why she suffered the seizure, but that it may have just been a “one-off”. She is awaiting a specialist appointment after tests.

She said Ben was “shaken up and scared” after the incident, but had said he “just did what he knew he had to do”. “If Ben had not acted the way he did we would have been a lot worse off. Neither of us had a scratch on us.”

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