When Miranda Brown heard he grandfather say that he was scared on the way back from their go-karting trip, she knew something was seriously wrong, as "he was one tough cookie." At around that time, the man's head hit the passenger side window as he died of a heart attack, with his foot on the throttle. At first, the 12-year-old girl did what most 12-year-old girls would do: "freak out."
After her freak-out session, she realized that the truck was accelerating and drifting towards the side of the road, so she dove down and tried to press the brake with her hand. While this did slow the car down, it wasn't enough, so she put on foot on top of the other and pressed it that way. "I was going to put it in park and I thought we were going too fast. I thought we would fish-tail or flip over."
So she decided to try to find a place to pilot the vehicle that would safely stop it. "I was looking around and thought, "Should I go into the corn field, should I keep going?'" she said. "Down the street was a red light and I saw woods. I said I can't hurt anybody else, I can only hurt myself." She ran the truck into a few trees and managed to stop it.
We're sorry that Miranda had to go through that, but we're also very impressed with her level head, clear thinking, and focus. She attributes it to her father, who is an EMT, and to watching the occasional episode of Law & Order.
[via AP]
