AUBURN – Others thought a Chevrolet Blazer careening from a McDonald’s parking lot into traffic was an example of road rage. Drivers pounded horns and jerked their vehicles to the side to make way for the SUV.

Jill Crowell, a registered nurse from Oakland, quickly realized that the driver, Kenneth Ouellette, 38, of Auburn, was having a grand mal seizure.

Instincts took over.

The pharmaceutical sales representative stepped on the gas and gave chase. She accelerated beyond the Blazer, grabbed her cellular phone and leapt from her vehicle.

She ran toward the oncoming vehicle with her 2-inch heels clapping in hopes of getting the door open and stopping the vehicle.

“I think in those situations, you just kind of get a focus, and you prioritize,” Crowell said. “Getting the car stopped was a priority, and then making sure he was OK.”

Crowell wrenched open the door, leaned across the convulsing man and jammed the gearshift into park, jolting the vehicle to an abrupt stop.

She grabbed the man’s flailing hands and dialed 911.

As a rescue unit from the Auburn Fire Department and an ambulance approached, she turned her attention to the man’s infant son in the back seat. He was silent, apparently not concerned, or else unaware of the drama.

Emergency medical technicians arrived minutes later and took over. The ambulance took Ouellette and his son to St. Mary’s Regional Medical Center, according to Auburn police Lt. Gary Boulet.

Crowell was startled when she realized that the baby boy was in the back.

“His little baby had blond hair, just like my son,” Crowell said. “I thought, ‘I was supposed to be here this morning.'”

Crowell said she hopes Ouellette is doing well.

“I just hope that everything turns out OK, and he just doesn’t have to run into that situation again,” she said. “It must have been frightening.”