A heart attack behind the wheel sent an SUV swerving across Loop 410 in San Antonio this month, and a stranger’s split-second move brought it to a stop.
New details are emerging about the incident in early March near Harry Wurzbach, where a driver lost control of his SUV after suffering a heart attack.
Video shows the SUV weaving across lanes of traffic and narrowly missing other vehicles, including an 18-wheeler. Moments later, it crashed into a concrete barrier, then bounced back into moving traffic.
People watching quickly realised something was seriously wrong.
“Oh no! No! No! Somebody needs to stop him,” one person can be heard saying in the video.
That is when Rene Villarreal stepped in. Villarreal, a 29-year-old welding and construction business owner who lives on the Northeast Side, said he pulled his pickup truck in front of the out-of-control SUV and hit the brakes, forcing it to stop.
“I just acted off instinct,” Villarreal said to Fox News 29. “It was too fast to really process. I’m shocked.”
A nurse who saw the crash pulled over and started CPR. Paramedics arrived within 15 minutes.
The driver, identified only as Ben for privacy reasons, had suffered a heart attack caused by 100 percent blockage. He spent six days in hospital.
His family said he is alive because of Villarreal’s actions. “Man, I feel good. It feels great,” he said.
Villarreal said he is still processing what happened. “Ben, I hope you’re doing good, man,” he said. “I faced it that day, and I’m glad you’re alright.”
