A brave 3-year-old has become a national hero after he rescued an elderly man trapped inside a car in Tennessee.
While waiting for his wife to come back from an event at the Vestal Baptist Church in Knoxville last Saturday, Bob King, 68, found himself trapped in his car. The temperature within the vehicle climbed to over 120 degrees, and King began to panic as the automatic door locks refused to become unstuck.
"We've been having trouble with the door on this car since we bought it," King told ABC News.
Because he has undergone multiple cancer treatments and has suffered two strokes in the past six months, King's wife, Jenny, says he is in "in very bad shape" and "could barely see anything.
Just as King began to shout for help, 3-year-old Keith Williams came walking past the car, and stopped as King began knocking on the window.
"I hollered at him and he just looked at me kind of funny and I said 'Get help, get help,'" King said.
"He got hot. He was locked in the car," the little boy told AOL.com.
Providentially, Jessie Williams, Keith's mother, had educated him about hot car safety just days before this happened-and knew exactly what to do.
Since Keith-who is not quite three feet tall-- was not strong enough to open the car door on his own, he ran to Pastor Jack Greene, who was volunteering at the benefit event, for assistance.
"I was talking to someone and little Keith came behind me and kept saying, 'Locked, locked, locked," Greene told ABC News.
According to Greene, who was talking to a friend at the time, the toddler became insistent, patting and pulling his hand, and saying "hot, hot."
"I told the gentleman: 'Excuse me for a minute' and I followed him [Keith] out," Greene said.
"When I saw Bob in the car, I said to myself: "Oh my Lord,'" Greene said. The pastor eventually managed the open the door, and as King fell out of the car, he nearly hit his head on the pavement.
"His whole body was raining sweat. His face was red like a pickled beet," Greene said. "I asked him three times: 'Are you OK Bob?'"
King, although shaken up, stated that he was fine and would just need "a minute."
Today, King is extremely thankful for Keith, who he calls "little preacher," for saving his life.
"I am very impressed and I'm proud that he would know what to do," agreed Keith's mother.
"He [Keith] said: 'I saved life' after I brought Bob inside," Green said. "He is such a good kid. He is an inspiration and blessing to us."
