Quick thinking truck driver saves family

By Alison Noonan
AN EPILEPTIC Cranbourne woman narrowly escaped death or serious injury after she suffered a fit while driving with her two young children last week.
Tracy Wilson has praised the quick-thinking actions of the truck driver who rushed to her aid when the incident occurred about 3.30pm on Monday.
Ms Wilson said she was returning home after collecting her five-year-old son from school when she blacked out on Abbotts Road in Dandenong.
“My son and two-year-old daughter were asleep in the back of the car.
“I turned down a main road and that’s the last thing I remember,” she said.
Ms Wilson said she woke to paramedics hoisting her into an ambulance.
She was taken to hospital where tests confirmed she had suffered an epileptic seizure.
“That was completely unexpected,” she said. “I didn’t even know I was epileptic. I had only ever had one seizure years ago but I had written it off as a one-off.
“It wasn’t until the following day when the story was relayed to my husband that it became apparent just how fortunate I had been.”
Ms Wilson said she was told that after falling into a semi-conscious state her driving became erratic, clipping the curb, reacting slowly to other vehicles and swerving over the road. “I blacked out mentally but my body was still physically operating.
“I was generally driving as if I was drunk.
“I stopped at the traffic lights and a truck driver got out and approached my window to see how I was.
“He had seen how I’d been driving and clicked that something wasn’t right,” she said.
Ms Wilson said the truck driver knocked on her window but was unable to attract her attention.
“The light turned green and I attempted to drive off. Without a moment’s hesitation he opened my door and turned my car off.
“I then suffered a tonic clonic (grand mal) seizure.
“The truck driver protected me as best he could from hitting my head on the steering wheel and grabbed my phone and called an ambulance.
“Then, thinking I would like someone there who knew me, he began dialling numbers in my phone until he reached my friend Brett,” she said.
Ms Wilson said she feared to think what could have happened if not for the discerning actions of a complete stranger.
“Without the astonishingly fast actions of one truck driver, I doubt I’d be here today.
“It is frightening to think what could have happened to my children. I was seconds away from absolute disaster.
“I just want to thank the truck driver for having the sense to realise something wasn’t right and taking a few seconds to stop and help. I hope he feels good about what he did because one little action saved three or more lives,” she said.
“This local act of heroism has left me knowing there are still some good people in the world.”