Hero driver who saved autistic son choking on sweet praised by grateful Doncaster mum

13-year-old David Nottingham had turned blue and fallen unconscious with his frantic family desperately try to dislodge the boiled sweet from his airways after making an emergency stop at the side of a busy Doncaster road.

After pulling him out of the car and several failed attempts at the heimlich manoeuvre to remove the sweet, driver Steven Smith came to the rescue after seeing and hearing the family’s cries – and David’s mum Tegan has now managed to track down her son’s rescuer after making a Facebook appeal.

She said:” In mine and my family’s eyes, he really is a true hero and we will be forever grateful to him.”

The drama unfolded on April 1 as the family returned home along Bawtry Road after a day out.

Said Tegan: “It was around 8pm.

"David started to silently choke on a hard boiled sweet. He never panicked or tried to let us know he was choking, it was only through his silence that we noticed.

"I pulled over as soon as I realised – we were on a busy dual carriage way - but by this point, he was blue and had fallen unconscious.

"I managed to get him out the car and me and my oldest son tried doing the Heimlich maneouvre, but without any luck.

"That’s when Stephen turned up.

“He had heard mine and my son’s screams and shouts while passing on the opposite side of the road so he literally abandoned his car in the road, jumped the central reservation and took over.

"It was a bit of a blur for me from this point but he did everything he could until he finally got the sweet out and my son started to breathe again.

"I’d never met Stephen until this point - for me he was literally in the right place at the right time.

"I’ve since found out he has no medical training and everything he did he did through instinct.

"It was down to his instincts, fast thinking and pure selflessness to abandon his car in a busy road that my son is still alive today.

"The alternative to Stephen not passing when he did just doesn’t bear thinking about. In mine and my family’s eyes he really is a true hero and we will be forever grateful to him.

“As soon as Stephen knew my son was OK, he just left, he didn’t wait for praise or thanks. I managed to find out who he was through the power of social media.”

“He deserves all the recognition he can get. It was the worst experience of our lives but thankfully David is fine now.”

Tegan also paid tribute to bus driver Adam Green who stopped his bus to help at the scene, as well as Haley Jones, who stopped to ring 999 during the drama.

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