Photo/WES KELLER DID SHE SAVE HIS LIFE? Leanne Hunter visits driving instructor Dave Teeter at Headwaters Health Care Centre Tuesday, after she had taken him there during a driving lesson Monday evening when she and, later, paramedics and medical personnel suspected he had suffered a heart attack. Turned out to be something less serious, but the symptoms were "scary." When Leanne Hunter takes her driver test this afternoon, she might be the first-ever to have performed an ambulance function even before she was licensed.

That's not entirely true. But the 17-year-old Grade 12 student at Orangeville District Secondary School was being instructed on parallel parking on Zina Street when she noticed her teacher had broken out in a sweat, and appeared to be seriously ill.

Instinctively, the quickthinking young woman wheeled her Avonmore vehicle away and headed to Headwaters Health Care Centre as speedily as the law would allow.

"It was scary," said Leanne in an interview at the hospital where she'd gone to visit instructor David Teeter, 55, "especially when the light at the top of the hill turned amber just as I was approaching."

Despite the apparent emergency, Leanne wasn't about to break any laws. "I slammed on the brakes," she said, "and Dave sort of lurched forward," restrained by his seat belt.

At the hospital, Leanne sprinted into Emergency, and three paramedics rushed to the vehicle to move the instructor quickly in for emergency treatment. She says the urgency wasn't lost on the hospital staff, who attended to Mr. Teeter almost immediately.

Apparently, Mr. Teeter was displaying all the symptoms of a heart attack. Leanne said one of the staff told her she had probably saved his life by her quick action.

That was Monday night at about 8:30. By mid-afternoon Tuesday, Mr. Teeter was trying to find a way to get out of the hospital.

He hadn't had a heart attack, he said, but he hadn't been following his diabetic regimen on Monday - so one might suspect he was on the verge of a diabetic coma.

Recalling the experience, Mr. Teeter said his vision had suddenly gone blurry and he felt weak.

"I hadn't eaten properly all day. I just had a couple of cups of coffee," instead of the evening meal.

Although in hospital, he was appearing hale and hearty, and he hadn't neglected his tutorial duties.

"Leanne, I promise I'll make arrangements for your Thursday test." He also hinted that in future he wouldn't neglect his diet.