Illinois man leaps into moving car to save driver having a seizure

A person driving a car. — (Image credit: iStock)

When Randy Tompkins saw a car driving slowly toward him on a Dixon, Illinois, street last Friday, the driver convulsing, he acted fast.

Tompkins, 39, pulled over, leapt out of his truck, and ran over to the car, jumping through its open window. He pulled the emergency brake and put two fingers in the driver's mouth so he wouldn't swallow his tongue. The driver was then taken to the hospital as a precaution.

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Catherine Garcia has worked as a senior writer at The Week since 2014. Her writing and reporting have appeared in Entertainment Weekly, The New York Times, Wirecutter, NBC News and "The Book of Jezebel," among others. She's a graduate of the University of Redlands and the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.