A 10-year-old boy has been hailed a hero after he grabbed the wheel of a truck when the driver became unwell and steered it through 10 miles of traffic on a busy Alabama road
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Christopher Wheeler was with his elderly neighbour Alfred Smith on a trip to the scrap yard on Interstate 65 in Montgomery when the 70-year-old suffered a diabetic episode and began to lose consciousness.
Special Agent Eric Salvador, from the Attorney General's Office, spotted the pick-up weaving across three lanes of traffic and running other vehicles off the road. He tried to get the vehicle to stop after turning on his siren and flashing his lights, but the truck carried on, WSFA reported.
The truck then turned off on to Highway 14, ran through a red light and swerved into oncoming traffic several times, before Christopher grabbed hold of the wheel and managed to hit the brakes.
Speaking to WSFA, Christopher said: "I didn't want us to die. 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."
Mr Smith was taken to hospital after the incident, where he was in a good condition, the TV station said. Alabama Law Enforcement Agency (ALEA) said the boy's actions "may have saved the driver's life, his own life and the lives of others on the road at the time".
Mr Salvador added: "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."
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