Courageous Preteen Takes The Wheel After Grandfather Suffers Heart Attack In Driver’s Seat
Even as traffic accidents remain common, one last Tuesday had Miranda Bowman, pictured with her family above, steering the car to safety after her grandfather had a heart attack at the wheel. (via PhillyBurbs)
July 31, 2012 — When twelve-year-old Miranda Bowman begged her grandfather Paul Parker to take her to a go-kart track, she didn’t imagine that the car she’d end up driving that day would be her grandfather’s truck. On the way back from the New Jersey Motorsports Park, the Burlington Township preteen sat beside her grandfather when he began complaining that he didn’t feel well. He asked her to keep talking to him to help him focus.
Only seconds later, Miranda heard his head hit the side of the window, his foot still pressed firmly on the accelerator. The quick-thinking girl, realizing immediately the danger, unbuckled her seatbelt and after unsuccessfully attempting to dial 911, crouched down to the brake and tried to stop the vehicle. When this didn’t work, she grabbed the wheel and maneuvered the car over bushes and shrubbery attempting to slow it down. Miranda learned this technique, she says, from TV shows like Law and Order.
Realizing that she needed to get off the road she careened into some nearby trees. Thanks to her braking attempts, she was not hurt when the car finally came to a stop. Miranda, shaken and hysterical immediately following the accident managed to save her own life and prevent any further tragedy thanks to her composure and resourceful actions.
Her mother, Stephanie, and father, Jim, who is himself a firefighter and emergency medical technician, are grateful and amazed at their daughter’s courage. Given the tragedy of losing a father, they were spared the added trauma of losing their daughter as well. Paul Parker died of heart failure from a pre-existing condition.
– K. Howitt
Category: News
