Steered his mum’s car to safety after she collapsed at the wheel, preventing a potentially devastating high speed crash with other road users.

Zac’s mum Nicola was driving him to a Christmas market in Warwickshire from their home in Ebbw Vale last December.

They were travelling at 60mph on the A40 in Herefordshire when Nicola began feeling unwell. She managed to slow the car and steer it half off the road onto a narrow verge before she passed out.

With the automatic gearbox still in drive, her foot pressed on the accelerator and the car veered back out onto the dual carriageway. Quick-thinking Zac, 12, leaned across and grabbed the wheel, steering the car into the central reservation to bring it to a stop, before turning off the engine and calling 999.

Remaining calm, he used the car’s sat nav to pinpoint their location for the emergency handler, allowing police and paramedics to arrive quickly.

In the recording of the 999 call, Zac can be heard saying: “Basically I’m driving on a motorway and my mum just fainted so I had to crash the car to stop. Her foot went down on the pedal and it started accelerating, so I had to crash into the barrier. I’m really scared.”

Nicola, who was unconscious for around seven minutes, was found to be suffering from extremely low blood pressure and is awaiting further cardiology tests before she gets back behind the wheel.

Nicola says: “It must have been really frightening for him. He said he was screaming my name as the car was getting faster. When he realised I wasn’t going to wake up he reached over and grabbed the steering wheel.

“He started bumping the car off the barrier to slow it down and then just locked the wheel right to crash and come to a stop. He just knew he had to do something.

“When I woke up I could see the blue lights coming towards us and I was really confused. Zac was physically trembling but he kept saying, ‘I’m fine’. He was just worried about me.

“He literally saved our lives and who knows who else’s lives. I just felt so guilty, I was catching him and he was telling me not to worry. It’s playing on me how scared he must have felt, but he’s so humble. He thinks it was a normal thing to do.”