10-Year-Old Hailed Hero, Takes Over Wheel and Saves Diabetic Driver Who Suffered Seizure

WSFA

WSFA

A young boy stopped a truck from crashing into oncoming traffic after the elderly driver suffered a diabetic seizure and lost control of the vehicle.

WSFA reports 10-year-old Christopher Wheeler of Montgomery, Alabama was riding with his elderly neighbor on Interstate 65 on the way to the scrap yard on March 24 when Alfred Smith began to slip in and out of consciousness and the vehicle started to head towards oncoming traffic.

“He got sick and he was swerving across the road,” Wheeler told WSFA. “He started getting sweaty and said he needed a piece of candy.”

Special Agent Eric Salvador was also on the interstate when he tried using lights and sirens to get the pick-up to pull over. When that failed, he dialed 911 for assistance and Trooper Lee Walls joined the pursuit. Smith’s truck blew through a red light and almost hit other vehicles several times. After 10 miles, the chase ended thanks to young Wheeler taking control from the ailing 70-year-old.

“I didn’t want us to die,” Wheeler said to the news station. “The police were behind us the whole time with their lights on. I told him to stop, and he kept going. I put my foot on the brake, and I got the steering wheel and pulled it over and put it in park.”

Once Salvador approached the vehicle, a terrified Wheeler got out of the car and said he wanted to go home. Smith was lethargic and unresponsive, so the special agent went and got him a cookie once he realized he was dealing with a diabetic patient. Smith, who is also known as “Mr. Mitch” was taken to the hospital and is currently in good condition.

“I’m speechless because he saved a lot of lives,” Wheeler’s great-aunt, Mary Lee, told WSFA. “I’m so proud of him. He likes to work and likes to help people. This is something he does all of the time.”

The young boy is now being hailed as a hero thanks to his quick thinking. “Without the heroism of that child, I think they would have crashed off the road or into another vehicle. I think he saved a lot of lives out there,” Salvador told WSFA. “I’ve been in law enforcement eight years and I’ve never seen anything like this.”

The Alabama Law Enforcement Agency was so proud of Wheeler that they posted about the event on their Facebook page, detailing that the trooper took Wheeler for a meal at a fast food restaurant since he was hungry. There, they waited for family members to pick up the boy. The post has received more than 60,000 reactions and 13,000 shares since Thursday.

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