Team Northumbria netball coach steers bus on M1 to safety
A netball coach has described how she took control of a bus when the driver fell ill at the wheel while travelling to a Superleague match.
Lisa Stanley, head coach of Team Northumbria, grabbed the wheel as the bus travelled on the M1 near Chesterfield, Derbyshire, on Saturday.
She hit the brakes and steered it away from the central reservation, bringing it to a stop on an embankment.
The team was heading to a fixture against Loughborough Lightning.
None of the passengers was injured, but paramedics took the coach driver to hospital as a precaution after the incident, which happened at 15:15 GMT.
Miss Stanley, an ex-England player, said: "I just acted instinctively. As soon as I realised the driver wasn't well, I knew that I had to do something or there was going to be a serious accident.
"I did what anyone else would have done and used the brakes to slow the coach down while trying to steer it towards the hard shoulder.
"I'm just glad that everyone was OK."
Team Northumbria manager Heather Steel described Miss Stanley as "nothing short of a hero".
"Her quick thinking meant that the entire team and support staff managed to walk away without serious injury," she said.
"It doesn't bear thinking about what could have happened."
The Superleague fixture with Loughborough was cancelled and will be rescheduled.