Boy saves mom, averts car crash

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Jase Deemer, 14, and his mother, Amanda Springer, are safe after Jase steered their moving car to safety when Springer suffered a seizure last week.Bob Pennell

April 18, 2008

By Chris Conrad

Mail Tribune

EAGLE POINT — A 14-year-old boy maneuvered a moving car to safety after his mother suffered a seizure while driving on Reese Creek Road in Eagle Point.

Jase Deemer and Amanda Springer, 31, were headed to her parents' house last week to tend their animals when she suddenly lost consciousness, leaving their Kia Spectra without a navigator with a sharp curve ahead.

"I'm not sure, but it seemed like we were going pretty fast," the Eagle Point Middle School eighth-grader said.

"I grabbed the cell phone from the center console and then grabbed the steering wheel with my left hand to steer."

In the midst of this chaos, Jase managed to call 9-1-1 dispatcher Sally Brown.

It would become one of the more memorable calls in her three-and-a-half years working at the Southern Oregon Regional Communications dispatch center.

"I was really impressed with how calm he stayed," Brown said. "People in those situations are usually under a lot of stress, making it hard to communicate and find out where they are."

At first, Brown did not realize the car was still moving when Jase made the call.

"She told me to remain calm," Jase said. "I was scared the whole time we were going to crash."

Jase shoved his mother's feet out of the way so he could reach the brake. But before he could stop the car he had to cruise around a sharp turn where Reese Creek meets Brophy Road just north of town.

Looming ahead was another sharp turn, which Jase knew he probably would not make without crashing.

"We were going too fast," Jase said.

Finally, the teen was able to pull the car over to a stop. Brown then instructed him to shut the car off, as emergency crews were on their way.

Meanwhile, Springer lay unresponsive in the driver's seat, having suffered a seizure that left her helpless.

"By all rights we should have wrecked," she said. "The only thing I remember is hearing Jase say, 'I love you, Mom' before I was taken to the hospital."

This was the first seizure Springer experienced. A CAT scan at Rogue Valley Medical Center revealed no significant damage to her brain that could have caused the seizure. In a week and a half, she will undergo another battery of tests to determine whether she has epilepsy.

"To have your child see you in that situation is never a good thing," Springer said. "But he's always been a calm young man. He sucked it up that night and did what he had to do."

The pair praised Brown's work at the dispatch center that day, saying she may have saved their lives — and others'.

"Because of you my son is a hero," Springer wrote in a thank-you letter. "Because of you both my son and I are alive."

Both Brown and Jase will be awarded for their composure at 9:30 a.m. Wednesday during the county commissioners' meeting at the Jackson County Courthouse auditorium, said SORC Director Margie Puckett.

Jase said the driving lessons given to him by his grandfather during hunting trips in Eastern Oregon and Mexico helped him steer the car to safety.

"He lets me drive down dirt roads," Jase said. "At least I knew what to do when this happened."

Reach reporter Chris Conrad at 776-4471, or e-mail cconrad@mailtribune.com.

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