Grand Theft Auto Helps 11-Year-Old Save His Grandfather in Car Crash

An 11-year-old has credited violent videogame Grand Theft Auto with saving his and his grandfather's lives, after he took control of a car speeding at 70 kilometres an hour, before it hit a wall and flipped through the air.

In a scene that wouldn't seem out of place in Rockstar's hugely popular open world game, Charlie Cullen had to act quickly when his grandfather Finn Cullen suffered a blackout while at the wheel, and with his grandfather's foot stuck on the accelerator, Charlie had to act fast to take control of the wheel and drive the car.

The incident took place at the beginning of last month in Co. Meath, Ireland and Charlie told the Irish Independent that as the car initially pulled into the ditch he thought it was an Aprils Fools' joke because it happened on 1 April.

"So I brought the car back onto the road, I had one hand on the steering wheel and the other trying to wake Papa up. The main thing was to wake him up."

Grand Theft Auto

But Charlie credited the videogame for his ability to keep control of the car: "I didn't panic because I knew how to steer a bit from Grand Theft Auto."

What happened next was even more frightening for the 11-year-old and sounds like a scene straight from Grand Theft Auto. The car sped up to 70km/h and slammed into the wall of Slane Castle before flipping over through the air and landing on the other side of the road.

Charlie managed to escape through a broken window, before rescuing his grandfather from the car.

"I can remember the car turning in the air and the lights on the wall of the castle, I can't remember much else but I brought Papa up the road, his house was about 50 yards away," Charlie told RTE Radio One.

Luckily neither Charlie nor his grandfather were seriously injured in the accident.