Boy survives horror car crash after BMW automatically dialed 999

The accident caused airbags to inflate which in turn triggered the car to dial 999.

A 14-year-old boy from Sheffield, England, who suffered a fractured skull and spine in a horrific car crash, survived only because the BMW automatically dialed emergency services.
Bradley Duke and his brother, Hayden, 11, were on their way to school when their mother, who was driving the BMW, slid on black ice and lost control. The horrendous crash caused airbags to inflate which in turn triggered the 2014 BMW 3 Series to dial 999.
The mother - Claire Duke, 40, was rendered unconscious and woke up to emergency services personnel telling her from the dashboard: 'we know where you are and help is on its way'. Within minutes air ambulance arrived and paramedics placed Bradley in an induced coma before flying to Sheffield Children's Hospital for emergency brain surgery.
"I was in a state of complete panic, I had no idea what to do. The seriousness of the situation still hadn't kicked in because of the shock," Duke was quoted in Daily Mail.
The mother-of-three who also has an eight-week-old daughter, was unaware the emergency services were deployed to the crash scene by a safety feature in her BMW. 
Duke said doctor's revealed Bradley would have died if had he been treated just minutes later. "He would not be with us now if it weren't for that safety feature in the car," said Duke, who and her younger son escaped with minor injuries in the crash.
A police report found Bradley removed his seat belt moments before the smash. "I looked back and saw Bradley slumped in the backseat so went to check on him, I could tell he was hurt but I thought he had probably just bumped his head," Duke said. She was horrified when she noticed a piece of his skull was missing, exposing his flesh.
Bradley, who is now 17, woke up from coma after nine days but had to re-learn basic skills such as reading and writing following the brain injury. "I don't remember anything about the crash. If it wasn't for the technology in the car and the doctors in the hospital, I wouldn't be here today. It's amazing what the technology can do. Nobody knew the car had that feature," Bradley said.
Following the accident, a BMW spokesman said when the airbags are triggered in an accident, BMW will call the car via its onboard SIM card. If there is no reply from the passengers, emergency services are deployed to the crash scene immediately.