The Cicero Police Department recently awarded 13-year-old Nathan Bustin the CPD Life Saving Award for his actions after his mother suffered a medical crisis while driving.
54-year-old Lisa Bustin from Clay, New York passed out after developing a peanut allergy.
Her son Nathan watched his mother faint behind the wheel and quickly took it after she lost consciousness. Police believe his heroic actions likely helped prevent a deadly car crash or serious injuries.
Lisa explained that she had taken her son to ice hockey practice. While waiting, she was hungry and decided to eat peanuts from a jar that she found in the car.
“I’m not a big peanut eater,” she said. “I almost never do. Just that day they were in the car and I happened to be hungry and I just didn’t think anything of it because I didn’t ever have a peanut allergy.”
While driving home, she said that her feet and hands started to tingle, and her cheeks felt like they were on fire. Suddenly, Nathan saw his mother roll down the window and instantly knew something was wrong.
“ Her eyes rolled up and her head went back to the headrest,” he said. “As soon as she went unconscious, her hands just dropped and totally relaxed.”
Nathan immediately grabbed the steering wheel, but was unable to reach the brake or gas pedals in order to stop the vehicle. Upon taking control of the vehicle, Nathan was then able to grab his mother’s phone and call 911 to report his mother had passed out.
Nathan recalls that the car was going slow at first, but then Lisa’s foot was on the gas pedal, and the vehicle accelerated to about 40 miles an hour but their car finally stopped after it hit a slow-moving truck. Amazingly, no one was injured and Lisa was transported to the hospital.
Doctors have informed Lisa that the cause of her passing out was an allergic reaction to peanuts; which she says she was not aware of.
The Cicero Police Department honored Nathan by awarding him the CPD Life Saving Award. If not for Nathan’s quick thinking, the outcome of this incident could have been much different.
Adult-onset food allergies are considered increasingly common, with a recent study finding as many as 12 million Americans had developed a food allergy in adulthood.
