12-year-old says 'instinct' helped him save his mom

JaVon Taylor isn't old enough to have a license, but the 12-year-old is being called a hero after taking the wheel and saving his mother's life. He even received a special honor from the Bloomfield Hills Public Safety Department for his courageous act.

A couple weeks ago, JaVon was in the car with his mom riding along Woodward Avenue. They were on the way to pick up his older sister from work when his mom suffered a low blood sugar attack. She blacked out.

But thanks to JaVon's quick thinking, he safely pulled the car over and called 911.

"It was just an instinct; it was just a reflex what I could do," he says. "I wasn't planning on doing that much but when she passed out, it was just, there was nothing else you could do but the best you could do. And I did the best I could do."

JaVon Taylor says he didn't drive far, only far enough to get in a safe spot to help his mom get her sugar back up.

His mom doesn't remember anything except waking up with an IV and seeing the ambulance and police. His mom, Camille, says she didn't initially see her son and started crying because she didn't know what happened to him, but police told her her was fine and that he actually saved her life.

Camille says it's a bitter sweet feeling that her son is now old enough to help her in these kind of situations. Her older daughter, who is 21, has had medical training to help out their mom, but Camille says JaVon hasn't had any of that formal training yet.

"Honestly, we don't give children enough credit. And, I must admit, until this episode, I didn't give my son enough credit being a minor, number one, and not being trained to handle medical situations, number two," she says. "But if we just listen to children more and give them more action and less words we'd be surprised how this could be a better world."

On Tuesday night, the Bloomfield Hills Department of Public Safety presented JaVon with a Civilian Bravery Award at the City Commision Meeting. You can watch video of JaVon receiving his award in the video player above.

Camille says she initially kept the ceremony a surprise from JaVon, and finally told him a few days ago. She says he didn't believe her and she had to show him the whole email.

JaVon says he doesn't quite understand why police were so shocked and proud of what he did, because he says he feels like he didn't do anything that surprising.

"All I did was save my mom," he says. "I know there are other kids around the world doing the same thing."