Kids get a bit of a bad rap for being dangerous drivers, and for good reason – statistics say that drivers ages 16-17 have the highest rates of crash involvement in the US.
But it’s very easy to lump all teenagers in the same boat when it comes to driving responsibly, and that wouldn’t be fair.
Yes, there are kids on the road who are nowhere near mature enough to drive.
But there are others, like one Florida teenager, who have the quick-thinking and bravery to act faster than anyone else when a roadside emergency strikes.
You might be confused to know, then, that Olivia Jones, the teenager in question, intentionally caused a car accident.
She dented her car, however, to save another woman’s life.
It sounds like the sort of scenario you’d never want to be in: just two days before Christmas, Olivia stopped at a red light and noticed that the driver next to her was facing a medical crisis.
At first, Olivia thought the woman was just slumped over, texting – an unfortunate normality, especially at stoplights.
Speaking to 10 Tampa Bay, Olivia recalled the moment when she realized the woman was in serious trouble.
She said:
“I thought she was texting because she was looking straight down. And then she started seizing.”
To make matters even more horrific, Olivia, a Clearwater High School student, noticed that the woman’s car was starting to slide into oncoming traffic.
Knowing she had to act fast, Olivia got out of her own car to alert other drivers about the issue.
But nobody seemed to want to help.
Olivia was on her own, faced with a situation that likely feels illegal even when you’re trying to save someone’s life: she would have to cause an intentional accident.
Without more than a split second of hesitation, Olivia pulled her car in front of the woman’s, letting it hit hers.
She recalled what happened after, saying:
“She was kind of like seizing out of the car. I took her seat belt off. She had blood and had peed herself. I was on the phone with 911.”
Thankfully, authorities arrived two minutes later, and Olivia could finally breathe and process the situation.
It must have been a terrifying scene to face, so it’s unsurprising that, when asked if she was scared, Olivia said:
“Oh, yeah. My legs were shaking. I didn’t know… I just… I don’t know. I was really nervous.”
While her friends think that what she did was “dumb”, Olivia rightly doesn’t agree.
She was certainly in the right place at the right time, surrounded by other people on the road who were unwilling to help. She truly acted as the woman’s guardian angel that day.
Olivia actually plans to work in the medical field once she leaves school, and has been considering one day becoming an orthopedic surgeon.
Perhaps this was a crash course in saving lives – and it hasn’t put her off her aspirations.
Talking about the discussions she has with her parents about her future, Olivia said:
“I always talk to them about who I want to be in the medical field and how I want to save people and they’re like, ‘That’s how you got started. That’s your first step.’”
What an amazing young woman – we’d like to think we’d all act so bravely in a medical emergency. You can watch a video interview with Olivia below.
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