This is the dramatic moment a quick-thinking teenager threw himself into a runaway car, with two terrified women trapped inside, and stopped it from smashing into another vehicle.
Euan Lonnen, 18, had been working at a cafe in Dingwall when he spotted the driverless car slowly rolling across the car park, with the pair of women sitting helplessly in the back.
The teen sprinted after it and tried to wrench the steering wheel around, but when it wouldn’t move he jumped inside and pulled the handbrake, stopping the car seconds before it would have crashed into another parked vehicle.
View 2 ImagesEuan Lonnen was caught on camera dashing to stop the runaway car(Image: Highland Farm Cafe/Facebook)
Euan, who was working shift as a supervisor at the Highland Farm Café, said: “I was talking to a customer at the door, and she pointed out the car with no one in the driver’s seat, that had started to roll.
“I started walking out to see if I could help, then I started running after it. My first thought process was to angle the wheel towards the overflow car park and see if I could get the car to stop – but the guy had turned the car off and took the keys, so the steering wheel had locked.
“Something inside of me said ‘just get in the car,’ and I put the handbrake on. The car had started skidding, so it didn’t really stop until about a centimetre away from the other car. It was very, very close, and everyone was a bit shaken up.”
View 2 ImagesCCTV captured the dramatic moment the quick-think teenager dashed to save the two women(Image: Highland Farm Cafe/Facebook)
Thankfully, neither passenger was injured and both vehicles escaped without damage. Stunned customers and colleagues praised Euan’s quick thinking, while café owners Kenneth and Lesley later posted the CCTV footage on social media, where it quickly drew thousands of likes and comments.
Kenneth said: “We’re very proud of how Euan reacted to the car rolling away. Euan is always looking for ways to look after our customers and this is another example of his looking out for others.
“The two elderly passengers hadn’t even got their seat belts on so his actions really did save the day!”
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