Do you think your five-year-old would have the wherewithal to – upon awaking from a nap and seeing you have a seizure at the wheel – jump up from his slumber, grab the wheel, and steer your car to safety? Five-year-old Caleb Taylor did, and he’d like to be referred to as “Batman” from now on – thank you very much.
He awoke to see his mom having a seizure. When he called to her and she didn’t respond, he climbed into the front seat, threw the car in neutral, steered it off the road, pulled the keys out of the ignition and ran for help. I’m trying to think if I could respond that quickly if I awoke to the same scenario. I’m not sure I know the answer to that question. This kid is amazing.
From Today Moms:
Dad Robert Taylor said he’d taught Caleb to do that if he was ever in trouble.
“I’ve always told him if a car runs away, turn the ignition off. If something happens, turn the wheel, turn the ignition off,” said Taylor, who told WXII that Caleb “knows how to start a car and hold a steering wheel.”
I don’t know that it would occur to me to teach this to a five-year-old. But now it has. Taylor told his son, “You are my hero,” to which he responded that he’d like to be called “Caleb Batman” from now on. Whatever you want, kid. Whatever you want.
I guess teaching our kids certain survival skills makes a lot of sense. Many of us spend a lot of time in the car. That means our kids do, too. Teaching this kind of tactic is honestly not something I’ve ever considered. It’s making me realize there are plenty more situations I should probably think about preparing my child for. If this child’s mom was prone to seizures, his father did an incredibly smart thing by teaching his son how to troubleshoot this situation. The knowledge this boy had probably saved his mom’s and his own life that day.
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