Kids may be little, but that doesn’t make them incapable. Time and time again children have shown an ability to act in a responsible and life-saving manner when dangerous situations arise. Often times they behave even more competently than the adults around them. Here is just a sampling of stories of kids saving the day and rescuing themselves or
others from danger.

Real-life stories of kids saving people

Boy saves his family from fire
Ten-year-old Asaya smelled smoke. So he ran to the living room and discovered a fire that had been started by a space heater. It was spreading fast. Remembering what he had learned from a firefighter visit to school, the boy jumped into action. “They told us if you smell smoke get out, and evacuate everybody,” Asaya says. So after helping his 64-year-old grandma to safety, he rushed back into the burning home (which is definitely something kids shouldn’t do, but in this case it worked out alright) to rescue his 11-month-old cousin Armani, and then his cousin Joe, 2. A homeless man, meanwhile, noticed the fire and hopped a fence to help, rescuing 15-year-old Santiago, who has cerebral palsy and uses a wheelchair. Just moments later, the roof collapsed, and fire consumed the entire house. “We’re all safe. That’s all that matters,” says grandma Anna Jaramillo. Asaya saved the day. (Hagen, 2023)

Boy leaps into action to avoid school bus accident
When his school bus started veering into oncoming traffic, 13-year-old Dillon Reeves jumped into action. “The driver’s hands weren’t on the wheel, and his foot wasn’t on the pedal,” says the 5th grader. So he grabbed the steering wheel and applied the break, bringing the bus to a halt as kids were screaming in the background. The kids called 911 to help the bus driver, who had suffered a medical emergency and has since recovered. “He helped avoid a disastrous situation,” said Warren, Michigan’s mayor James Falk. ((Fowler, 2023)

Fowler, J. (2023, Oct. 2) “Kids to the rescue,” People, pp. 72-75