Nine-year old boy stops neighbours' van from crashing with bare hands

Startling Ring doorbell footage shows nine-year-old Kameron Hunter playing football outside his home in Nelson, Lancashire, when a neighbour's Vauxhall Vivaro begins slowly rolling down the street. The schoolboy quickly abandons his ball and selflessly runs in front of the tool-packed van in an attempt to stop it with two hands on its front grille.

A family friend rushes from the house to alert the owner while 5st Kameron is dangerously pushed backward by the vehicle for ten seconds. However, the brave lad miraculously manages to stop the runaway van and hold it in position like a superhero so it doesn't smash into parked cars or a lamp post 15ft away.

His mum Lyndsay Hunter was upstairs during the dramatic incident and admits she was angry at her heroic son at first - telling him he could have been run over and killed. But after watching the footage, shot on July 21, the teaching assistant, 30, has been baffled by his serious strength and proud that he considered his neighbour before himself.

Van owners Matt Sharples and Helen Reavley, both 37, who reportedly only bought the vehicle a week earlier, were so thankful that he bought the aspiring footballer a £50 gaming voucher and a superhero cape. The pair, who own Rees Windows and Doors, say they're 'so grateful' and Helen couldn't believe he'd stopped the three-tonne van, saying it would have squashed her. He's now known as the superhero on the street and Lyndsay's TikTok video of the incident has led thousands online to praise him for saving the day.

Kameron admits his hands were shaking and he was scared but that he selflessly jumped into action after thinking how devastated his neighbours would be. He said: I thought oh my god, it's going to crash and set fire. I was worried and my hands were shaking so I sprinted to the van and put my life in danger. I was thinking about how upset the owners would be.

“People say I was fearless but I was quite scared. I'm surprised I could do it. I didn't think I was going to be able to stop the van. I just thought I would slow it down a bit. When the van was pushing me I was worried it was going to run me over. It feels amazing that people say I'm a superhero.”

Lyndsay was stunned by her son's serious strength when she watched the video back shortly after his street heroics. Lyndsay, from Nelson, Lancashire, said: I didn't realise at the time just how strong he is. He's got some serious strength on him. I'd sent my friend to get him because tea was ready then the next thing I know he comes in and tells me he's saved my neighbour's van from rolling.

My friend ran to go and get the neighbour and within 20 seconds he was out and thanking Kameron. I told Kameron not to touch the van and that he could have been run over and died but he said that if it had crashed then the owner wouldn't have been able to go to work.

I just thought what a lovely boy you are. He's got such a big heart and he makes me really proud. When I watched the video back he didn't think about his football and he didn't think about himself. If he didn't stop it, it would have started rolling faster. The van owners even bought him a cape and they call him a superhero. It's crazy to watch it back. The van's heavy itself but it was full of tools too.

It's believed the work van suffered a brake fault causing it to roll down the street while Matt and Helen, who often chat to Kameron, were still inside their house. Helen said: We ran out and saw Kameron holding the van so we told him to get off it because we were worried for him. We couldn't believe how he'd done it. It would have squashed me. We're so grateful because if he hadn't done that it would have carried on down the street, through a fence and probably into someone's car. We wouldn't have had a van to work in.

Lyndsay captioned her TikTok video ‘when your nine-year-old saves the day’ and it had more than 1,600 comments. One user commented: That kid didn't even think twice. Just went to stop the van. It could have caused a crash. Well done to that kid. A second said: Fair play to him brave enough to get in front of a rolling van. Top lad. A third added: He's a credit to you. His instinct kicked in and he saved the day!