A MUM whose life was saved by her 12-year-old son grabbing the wheel of a speeding 60mph car is "incredibly proud" after he was presented with a national bravery award.

Nicola Crump passed out at the wheel from low blood pressure last December just after driving past Monmouth, but quick-thinking son Zac saved the day by bringing the car safely to a halt on the A40 central reservation.

The Ebbw Vale lad, now 13, received the Child of Courage honour at last week’s Pride of Britain Awards at London's Grosvenor House Hotel, presented to him by England and Everton star Jack Grealish.

Zac was presented with the award by Jack Grealish watched by awards host Carol Vorderman
Zac was presented with the award by Jack Grealish watched by awards host Carol Vorderman (Daily Mirror Pride of Britain Awards)

Nicola said: "I was proud of him anyway but what he did for me was just absolutely amazing. If he wasn't there that day, I don't think I'd be here now.

"That car would have just kept accelerating until I'd hit something, probably head on...

"He literally saved our lives and who knows who else's lives. 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."

Zac with his family at the Pride of Britain Awards
Zac with his family at the Pride of Britain Awards (Family)

They were on their way to a Birmingham Christmas market when she suddenly felt il after crossing the Wales/England border.

Nicola managed to slow the car and pull partly onto a narrow verge before losing consciousness, but with the automatic gearbox still in drive and her foot on the accelerator, the vehicle moved off back onto the dual carriageway.

She previously told BBC Radio Wales: "All I remember is waking up on the other side of the road not knowing what happened.

'We left the house at 5.30am and everything was fine, and didn’t have breakfast because we were planning on a McDonald's.

"But then I started to get really hot and pulled over. I wound my window down and managed to take my coat off, but I could feel myself going, I was in buckets of sweat. I said to Zac 'I'm going, I don't feel well’...

”The last thing I remember is a lorry going past. Then I fainted before I’d managed to put the car into park mode... There was nothing to stop it."

Commendation award
Zac Howells, pictured with his mum Nicola, was presented with a bravery award by West Mercia Police chief constable Richard Cooper earlier this year (Submitted/West Mercia Police)

Zac managed to steer the car to slow it down on the bumpy grass, saving both their lives, before turning the engine off, using the sat nav to find their location and dialling 999.

"I was really scared but I knew I had to do something," said the youngster, whose mum was unconscious for some eight minutes.

"When I was on the phone to 999, I saw her belly moving so I knew she was breathing."

In the 999 recording, 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."

Zac, who has also received a bravery award from West Mercia Police, met Real Madrid and England star Jude Bellingham at Wembley Stadium earlier this year, who told him he had won the Courage honour.

At the awards he also met TV personalities Pete Wicks and Sam Thompson and received a surprise video message from The Inbetweeners cast.