Pint-Sized Hero: Eight-Year-Old Girl Grabs the Wheel to Save Grandma’s Life

Most adults with a driver’s license can’t juggle a cell phone and a steering wheel without mowing down a pedestrian or two.  Meanwhile, little Emma Hicks, 8, managed to take off her seatbelt, climb into the front seat and grab the steering wheel when her grandmother blacked out behind the wheel — successfully saving their lives AND the lives of others on the road.

And they say girls can’t drive.   Pfffttt.  What-evah!

According to Emma’s grandmother, Jeannie Mendoza:

“I turned on the corner and I told her [Emma] I felt funny and I was going to pull over.  I pulled over a little bit and I don’t remember anything after that.”

Turns out, Jeannie had suffered a seizure.   Yikes.  Emma — who’d previously only driven her grandfather’s lawnmower and tractor (may need to contract her services for our townhouse complex) — recounted her frightening experience behind the wheel:

“And her foot was on the gas pedal and then we were going. . . So we went through a metal fence, a shed, and we hit some wood. And then the car stopped, but the doors were jammed on her side and my side.  And so, I opened the window and I went to go get help.”

And in future news, thousands of eight-year-olds use this story as a defense when caught driving their parents’ Camry through the Wendy’s drive-thru lane to grab a Frosty.   “But — I’m just PRACTICING to save lives!”