An Orleans family is full of gratitude to a young woman for saving his life.

26-year old Marc Messier suffered a medical emergency when he was driving a delivery van on the eastbound Queensway near Woodroffe Monday afternoon. The vehicle he was driving then started to bump into the nearby median.

"I was told I was found slumped over the steering wheel, crashed into the centre median and that a young woman took it upon herself to pull her vehicle in front of my vehicle and slow me down," Messier tells CTV Ottawa.

Messier is the son of Ottawa Fire Prevention Officer Marc Messier. Police have told the family that the woman was attempting to give the car a wide berth, when she realized the driver had his head down and appeared to be unconscious. The woman then maneouvered her vehicle in front of his slowing, until it came to a complete stop.

"To be here now, today, to be able to tell the story and to be able to thank this young woman who did this for me. She had no idea who I was and I had no idea who she was and she did this," says Messier.

The OPP have also issued their thanks to the the young Good Samaritan. Police say her actions may have prevented a major tragedy.

"On behalf of myself and my family anybody I know, for me to be standing here today could be all because of her," Messier says. "Of course I would like to thank her for that."