We often tend to underestimate children. They’re small and still have so much to learn about the world, so we assume they can’t handle serious situations or be heroes when danger strikes.
However, throughout history, kids who have been forced to face danger have proven people wrong and defied the odds. These stories are a collection of times kids were put into dangerous situations and saved the day.
These are not to be taken lightly, and certainly NEVER TRY THESE AT HOME. These kids did not choose to face these dangerous situations and the outcome could have proven deadly for many had the moment shifted in any way.
1) What A Catch
Little Zna Gresham was standing by and watching with horror as a nearby apartment building caught fire, trapping residents inside. One mom of three was stuck in the building and realized she couldn’t possibly carry all the kids out on her own. She also didn’t want to leave any of them behind, so she looked out of the window and saw Zna.
She got Zna’s attention and asked her to hold out her hands, before tossing her one-month-old baby out of the window! Luckily, Zna was quick to react, catching the child with style. Maybe she should become a baseball player.
2) A Tragedy Averted
Many superhero stories involve happy endings and everyone making it out okay in the end. Sadly, real life doesn’t always go that way. Gaylynn Miles, a mother of three, picked up her kids and told them they were going on a road trip. Secretly, she planned to kill herself and her kids, as she was dealing with severe depression.
She gave the kids sleeping pills and took some herself, but then her car caught fire! The flames woke one of the kids, Timmy, up. Timmy reacted quickly, carrying his brother and sister away from the blaze. Once the fire went out, the children had to spend all night in the vehicle with their mom’s body until they could look for help the next day.
3) Saving The School Bus
Back in early 2012, Jeremy Wuitschick, who was only 13 at the time, found himself in a life-or-death situation alongside his schoolmates. They were all riding on the school bus when the driver suddenly passed out due to a medical condition, leaving the bus speeding down the road with no adult at the wheel. While other kids screamed and panicked, Jeremy rushed forward, calmly taking the wheel and guiding the bus to a safe stop.
4) A Frosty Rescue
It was in the cold winter of 2011 when 16-year-old Kole Devisscher was driving along beside the Red River in Winnipeg. He spotted something floating in the water and decided to investigate. Moments later, he realized the shocking truth: a young boy had fallen through the ice and was flailing around to try and survive.
Thinking quickly, Kole grabbed his truck’s tow strap, made a loop, and tossed it towards the boy, who was able to place it around his body so that Kole could pull him to safety.
5) Saved From A Croc
Mamta Dalai is one of the toughest kids you’ll ever meet! The six-year-old Indian girl was playing with her big sister, Asanti, when a baby crocodile came out of nowhere and attacked! It grabbed Asanti and started to run off with her, but Mamta wasn’t going to give her big sis up without a fight!
She grabbed Asanti’s hand and didn’t let go, basically playing a kind of tug-of-war with the croc until it eventually gave up. Asanti had to be rushed to hospital, but recovered and Mamta was given an award for bravery.
6) Battle With A Bear
In the summer of 2011, a group of teens were out in the Alaskan wilderness, learning survival skills, when they were attacked by an angry grizzly bear. The teens had no adult guardians and had to fend for themselves. One of them, a 16-year-old named Samuel Boas, used his training to administer first aid and treat the wounds of his friends. Thanks to his actions, they all made it out alive.
7) Tough Teeth
It takes a special kind of bravery to stand up to a robber, and it’s even more impressive and incredible for a young girl to take on no less than three armed men who burst into her home. That’s exactly what happened in 2017. 13-year-old Mittal Patadia saw robbers break in and threaten her foster mom, so she dived on one of them and started biting him.
She got stabbed for her bravery and needed a whole lot of stitches, but managed to subdue the attackers long enough for help to arrive. Incredible!
8) Every Second Counts
18-year-old Peter Hanne was enjoying a quiet night in back in 2008 when someone knocked on his door, informing him that a truck was teetering on the edge of a nearby gorge, with the driver still inside, seconds away from falling into the rocky river below. Peter yelled out to his family to call the cops and immediately rushed to the gorge, which was just a few hundred yards away.
He knew that police were coming, but he worried that the truck might fall before they arrived, so decided to take action. Carefully, he climbed around the truck and smashed one of the windows to help the driver escape. Cops were amazed at his actions when they arrived on the scene.
9) Calm Under Pressure
One seven-year-old boy named Titus is clearly destined for a future in action movies after this amazing rescue. He was sitting in the family truck as his mom, Tommy Hill, drove him and his siblings home from a Thanksgiving dinner.
Tammy lost control of the truck, which rolled over and crashed. Titus responded perfectly, securing his younger sisters before getting out of the truck and running barefoot to a nearby farm for help. He even had to climb under an electric fence to access the property! Luckily, everyone survived.
10) A Non-Caped Crusade
Most kids (and even grown-ups) would simply not know what to do if they found themselves in the same situation as five-year-old Caleb Taylor. He was sitting in the backseat of the car when he suddenly saw his mom having a seizure.
Instead of panicking and waiting for the inevitable crash, Caleb unbuckled his belt and bravely climbed forward, taking the wheel and guiding the car safely to the side of the road. He then alerted a passer-by and asked them to call 911. In honor of his heroics, he now wants everyone to call him “Caleb Batman”. We think he’s earned that!
11) Stopping A School Shooting
School shootings continue to happen across America, and there could have been one more for us to mourn, if not for the brave actions of Chris Ericks. Back in 1991, a 17-year-old named Ryan Harris walked into a Rapid City high school with a shotgun.
He took some of his classmates hostage and threatened to kill them all. Chris was one of the hostages, and as soon as he saw Ryan’s focus falter, he dived at him, wrestling the gun out of his hands and saving the day.
12) Real Life Home Alone
Nine-year-old Jaden Kanka was hanging out in his room when a couple of armed robbers burst into the home. Smartly and sensibly, Jaden hid in a closet and waited, hoping that they wouldn’t find him.
However, when he heard the robbers talking in the living room below, he decided to make a run for it, escaping out of the window and rushing over to a neighbor’s home. The cops were called and the criminals were arrested.
13) A Smart Savior
People do very dumb things when they’re drunk, and 14-year-old Gordon Arnette knew that things would end badly when he heard a couple of drunk guys saying they were going for a swim in the local river.
He then watched with horror as they dived right into the river and were quickly swept away by the strong current. Luckily for them, Gordon immediately hopped on a nearby raft and paddled towards them, saving both men and taking them to shore.
14) A Little Mountaineer
Eight-year-old Johaven Gonzales was riding with his mom, grandma, and sister when their car lost control and fell off the side of a cliff. Johaven wasn’t injured too badly in the crash and managed to get out of the vehicle and climb 100 feet back up the mountain to call the cops and guide them to his family. Without his bravery, the rescue workers might never have even known about the crash.
15) Catching A Kidnapper
When teenager Temar Boggs and his buddies heard that a girl from their neighborhood had been kidnapped, they bravely volunteered to start searching the local area in an attempt to track her down and bring the criminal to justice.
Temar spotted a suspicious-looking car and peeked inside, seeing the missing girl sitting right there in the passenger seat. He and his friend started tailing the car, spooking the driver who eventually let the girl go free and was later caught by the cops.
16) The Importance Of Fire Safety
In 2009, one little hero made a big difference, and she had a dog to thank for it! Angelica Riggins was only six years of age when her home caught fire. Luckily, a short while before the accident, a fire safety dog named Sparkles had helped to teach Angelica and her classmates what to do in case of a fire.
As soon as she saw the flames, she got down low to avoid inhaling the smoke and crawled out of the home, rushing to a neighbor’s house and asking for help to save her dad, who was still stuck inside.
17) Staying Cool In The Face Of Danger
Back in 2012, a young girl named Samantha Christian was hailed a hero after saving her entire family from their burning mobile home in Arizona. An A/C unit had blown a fuse and caught fire, with the flames quickly spreading around. Luckily, Samantha managed to stay calm and collected, waking up her family and getting her siblings out of the home while her mom tried to fight the fire.
18) Big Bro Saves The Day
Linsey Knerl, a mom of three, was cooking in the kitchen when her four-year-old son, Micah, walked in and said that her infant boy, Moses, needed help. She couldn’t hear Moses crying and assumed it wasn’t a big deal, so said she’d be there in a minute. Moments later, Micah returned, grabbing his mom’s hand and pulling her to the living room, repeating that Moses needed help.
It turned out that the boy had somehow gotten a window-blind cord wrapped around his neck and was slowly suffocating. Fortunately, Micah’s actions saved his little brother’s life.
19) A Human Shield
Many moms and dads would do anything for their kids, even if it meant putting their own lives at risk. But what about if the roles were reversed? Well, young Alexis Goggins found herself in a situation where she needed to risk her safety to save her mother. The seven-year-old actually shielded her mom from a gunman. She was shot six times, but managed to survive.
20) Victor Kept His Cool
Back in the winter of 2009, nine-year-old Victor Flores was playing with his friends, Aiden, on his grandpa’s property. The two boys were hanging out near a frozen pond and Aiden decided to try and walk across it. The ice cracked and he fell into the frosty water.
Victor rushed over to help but ended up falling in the pond as well. Somehow, he kept his cool and swam to the side, climbing out and using a pole to help Aiden escape as well. Now that’s what we call ‘staying frosty’!
21) Sink Or Swim
Many young children aren’t strong swimmers. Most of them are just learning the basics and need to use floats and toys to stay above the surface. Fortunately, when a life or death swimming pool situation occurred, five-year-old Riley Braden knew what to do.
She saw a young toddler fall into the pool and immediately dived down to save her. It’s so lucky that Riley was there, as there was no lifeguard on duty at the time.
22) A Harrowing Encounter
James Persyn III deserves so much credit for his remarkable bravery. He was sitting at home babysitting his siblings one night when there was a frantic banging at the door. He opened up to see a panicked and injured woman, who revealed that she’d just escaped from a rapist. James then spotted a car heading up the driveway and realized the guy was still chasing his victim!
He let her in and locked all the doors, turning off the lights, grabbing a knife, and calling 911. The rapist, Eric Ramsey, then decided to set the house on fire, but James’ dad got home in time to douse the flames and police soon arrived. Ramsey was later shot and killed.
23) Quick Thinking
Choking is one of the biggest causes of death in children, and it’s terrifying to think that a single piece of food could spell the end of a young life, unless someone is around to save them. Luckily, when her classmate started choking, elementary school student Elspeth Mar acted fast.
She rushed over to the girl and performed the Heimlich Maneuver, helping her spit out the piece of apple that was blocking her windpipe and saving her life in the process. Elspeth later revealed she learned the technique from TV.
24) Taking The Hit
Many people often say they’d ‘take a bullet’ for someone they love, but would they really? Would many of us really put ourselves in harm’s way for someone we love in a moment of true danger? Well, little Anaiah Rucker did.
This nine-year-old was walking to the bus stop with her sister when a truck came speeding towards them. Anaiah only thought of one thing: protecting her sister. She pulled her sis away from danger, taking the hit from the truck in her place and suffering severe injuries that actually led to the loss of one of her legs.
25) A Team Effort
It’s great to feel like part of a team, all working together for the same goal. One high school baseball team was used to playing together and doing their best to win games, but they had to use teamwork and togetherness to save a life back in 2013!
A girl was stuck under a car in the parking lot of their school. Hearing the screams, the baseball players rushed over to help, all teaming up to actually lift the car off the ground and help the girl out.
26) Like A Scene From A Movie
12-year-old Michael Bowron found himself faced with a deadly dilemma. He’d been out driving with his dad when their truck had flipped. This all happened in the Australian Outback, so the boy and his father were miles from a hospital and needed to save themselves if they wanted to survive.
Their radio was dead, and Michael’s dad was in bad shape, so the young boy knew it was up to him to take action. Thinking fast, he actually managed to hotwire the radio, using the truck’s battery to power it up and call for help.
27) A Raging Inferno
Little Marcos Ugarte was just 14-years-old when he became a life-saving hero for his neighbors. Their house was on fire, and Marcus rushed outside with his dad, climbing a ladder and entering the burning building to rescue an 8-year-old boy was stuck inside. When asked about his actions, Marcos said he just didn’t what anyone else would have done. What a humble hero!
28) A Very Special Prom Night
This is one prom night these teens will never forget! A whole group of seniors were heading to prom in a limo, getting ready for a fun night, when the van in front of them started swerving around the road. It crashed, narrowly missing the limo in the process. The passengers inside were screaming for help, including young children. The prom-goers dived out and helped every passenger out of the vehicle.
29) A Daring Rescue
In 2008, a toddler fell into a river in Nepal. Rescue workers tried in vain to save her, but she was stuck in a tight crevice that was just too narrow for any adults to reach into. One of the rescuers, Salum Nepali, decided to see if his 12-year-old brother, Kamal, could help. Kamal descended down into the darkness and came back up half an hour later with the girl in his arms.
30) Superhuman Strength
We’ve all heard the stories of moms becoming insanely strong and lifting cars to save their babies. Well, this isn’t quite the same, but it’s pretty similar! Back in 2018, an old man was working on his car when it rolled off the block and trapped him underneath.
He yelled for help, drawing the attention of a 9-year-old boy called Malachi Coffey. Malachi rushed into the garage and grabbed a jack, lifting the car off the old man all by himself before rushing for help and getting the guy to a hospital.
31) A Born Sailor
Stuart Crang was just 10 years old when he found himself face to face with a life or death situation. He was out in his rowboat when he spotted a couple of people bobbing around in the water, a far distance from the shore. He rowed over to them, learning that they’d been stranded for nearly an hour after their boat had taken some damage and started to sink. Stuart helped get them back to dry land.
32) A True Superhero
Piper Rolfe is legally blind, but overcame this disability to save her friend’s life. She was outside, playing happily with her buddy, Irie, when a raccoon suddenly attacked! It was biting Irie badly and wouldn’t let go. Piper couldn’t see a thing, but asked Irie to guide her and grabbed a nearby stick, striking the raccoon until it ran away.
33) An Angry Bull On The Loose
Tom Phillips was only 10 when he saved his dad’s life. The boy and his farmer father were looking after their herd of cows when an angry bull started to charge towards them. It attacked Tom’s dad, knocking him out cold. The young boy had to act fast, so he rushed over to the family tractor and started it up, driving right at the bull to scare it away.
34) Crisis Averted
Jailyn Emmett was home alone with her two kids, Tregan and Lincoln. She suffers from a heart disorder and suddenly realized she was having an attack. She managed to dial 911 just before collapsing on the ground. Luckily, five-year-old Tregan grabbed the phone and explained that his mom had “just died” to the dispatcher, who was able to send out help.
35) A Diabetic Disaster
It can be so scary to live with a condition like diabetes, especially if you have kids. If ever an emergency happens, you need to worry about your own safety and your kids as well. That was the case for Leticia Zuniga, who suffered a sudden blood sugar drop and actually slipped into a diabetic coma. Luckily, she’d trained her son, Juan, and the four-year-old followed his mama’s instructions, calling 911 and saving her life.
36) A Rapid Response
It’s so important to teach your kids what to do in an emergency. Not only could it save their lives, but it might also save yours! Aaron Hayes was doing some woodwork at home when he sliced his arm with a chisel. He was bleeding badly, but his three-year-old son, Aaron, knew what to do. He walked straight to the phone and called 911, telling the operator that his daddy was badly hurt and needed help fast.
37) A Real Miracle
Sisters Hannah and Hayley were only in their mid-teens when tragedy struck the family farm! Their dad, Jeff, got trapped under his own tractor. The girls called for help but could see their dad struggling to stay alive, so decided to work together and try to lift the tractor. Somehow, through the sheer strength of love, determination, and adrenaline, they lifted it up enough for Jeff to get out.
38) Siri, How Do I Save My Mom?
We can sometimes get frustrated at kids’ obsessions with technology. They’re always stuck to their phones and video games, but technology can save lives sometimes! One four-year-old boy actually used an iPhone to ask Siri for help when his mom collapsed. The Apple assistant was able to help the kid get in touch with the police, who rushed his mom to hospital for life-saving treatment.
39) CPR Is So Important
Just like the Heimlich Maneuver, everyone should know how to do CPR. You never know when you might need to use this life-saving technique, and even children can benefit from knowing the basics. Luckily, Shardae Simmonds knew exactly what to do when her dad had a heart attack. Shardae got to work, doing chest compressions to keep her dad alive until the paramedics arrived on the scene.
40) Scout’s Honor
Being in the Scouts can really help to teach youngsters a lot of vital skills, preparing them for emergency situations that could arise later in life. One of those situations came quickly and unexpectedly for nine-year-old Damien Kisselburg. He and his dad were in a bad car accident, without anyone around to help them.
Damien acted fast, using his Scout skills to figure out where he was, realize that his grandparents’ house wasn’t far away, and run all the way there. They weren’t home at the time, so he ran another half mile to his own house and told his mom what had happened. His dad was saved because of his quick-thinking.
41) Preparation Is Key
Another near-disaster happened to Tiffany Saunders, a diabetic mom. One day, her blood sugar dropped so low she collapsed and lost consciousness. Fortunately, she’d told her son, Latrell, what to do if ever that happened. The boy called his dad, who was able to contact the emergency services and get help.
42) That’s What Brotherly Love Is All About
Glenn Church and his two step-kids, Isaiah and Jeremiah, were driving along when they were in an awful accident. Glenn was killed instantly, but the boys survived. However, the car was on fire at the time, and nobody was nearby to help out. Five-year-old Isaiah bravely unbuckled his belt and pulled his little brother away from the car, saving his life.
43) Kids Team Up To Save Their Mama
A group of five siblings found themselves in a terrible situation when their mom’s abusive boyfriend, Daryl Fields, suddenly pulled out a shotgun and threatened the whole family. The kids decided to fight back, working together to subdue Fields. One of them got him in a headlock while the others punched and kicked, wrestling the gun out of his hands. What a story!
44) It Could Have Been So Much Worse
Sisters Natalie and Lauren were sitting in the back of the car, being driven by their dad, when something started to go wrong. They noticed that their dad was losing focus and slurring his speech. It turned out he was going into shock due to his diabetes and needed help. Luckily, Natalie grabbed his cell phone, called 911, and then took hold of the wheel to try and guide the car to safety. They all survived, thanks to her actions.
45) A Terrible Situation
No child should ever have to deal with drug-addicted parents, but that was the case for one nine-year-old girl in Ohio. Her heroin addict parents took an overdose while sitting in their car in a parking lot, with the girl in the backseat. The girl quickly grabbed a cell phone and called her grandma to let her know what was going on. She then called the cops, who tracked the phone and arrested the parents.
46) Teacher’s Pet
We hope that Kyle Forbes’ teacher gave him an A grade after his heroic actions! The 10-year-old Boy Scout, who also has autism, was alone in class with his teacher when she started to choke on a piece of apple. Kyle rushed forward and used his scout training to perform the Heimlich Maneuver, saving the teacher’s life and becoming a true hero in the process.
47) Right Place At The Right Time
An Algerian teen named Feuzi Zabaat was definitely in the right place at the right time. He was walking down a street when he spotted a toddler right by an open window. The two-year-old’s mom was busy cooking and hadn’t noticed her child getting so close to the edge. The girl then fell out of the window, but Feuzi rushed over and caught her safely in mid-air.
48) All Thanks To The Rock
In 2017, a boy named Jacob O’Connor was visiting his grandma’s house when he saw his younger brother, Dylan, floating face down in the family pool. Quickly, Jacob pulled his brother out of the pool and started performing CPR. He’d learned the technique from watching San Andreas, a Dwayne ‘The Rock’ Johnson movie. His actions, inspired by the iconic wrestler-turned-actor, saved his little bro.
49) A Pizza The Action
One little girl named Rita saw her mom unconscious in the family home one day. She was only seven and could easily have panicked and lost control, but she wanted to do whatever she could to save her mama’s life.
She grabbed a slice of pizza and started slapping her mom’s face with it to wake her up. That unorthodox technique didn’t quite work, so then she decided to call 911 and get help. Her mom was saved and Rita was given a special bravery award.
50) A Cute Little Life-Saver
We’ve seen a few examples of kids saving people who were choking. In most cases, the kids are able to use the Heimlich Maneuver to help their friends and family members, but what do you do when you haven’t learned the technique? Chloe Olson was just five when she saw her mom start to choke.
Thinking quickly, she called 911. She thought that the dispatcher was her dad, and simply said “Daddy, mommy’s choking.” The dispatcher told her that help was on the way, to which Chloe said “Love you, bye!” Thanks to her call, Chloe saved her mom’s life and made us all smile with her adorable behavior.
So many inspiring tales! It’s extraordinary to see what kids can be capable of, even those as young as three or four. Every one of the kids in these stories, as well as the countless others who have saved lives and bravely looked danger right in the eye, deserve a lot of credit for their amazing actions. We can all learn a lot from them!