A courageous three-year-old boy from Eastern England was seen riding his toy truck in the middle of a busy street as alarmed and confused drivers swerved around him.
Eventually, an unnamed driver who saw the unsupervised motorist riding along A151 near Bourne, Lincs, stopped, parked her van and snatched him to safety.
Another local woman took the little boy into her home and tried to figure out where he came from and called the police.
It turns out that the toddler, Stefan Snowden, was on an important mission and had covered nearly a quarter of a mile from his home, according to the NY Post.
Stefan told his rescuer:
"Daddy was poorly."
He was trying to find help for his daddy, who had fallen unconscious at home.
Marc Snowden – the boy's father – suffers from seizures and collapsed while his wife Carla Neve, 25, was out running an errand.
His proud mother described her husband's health condition:
"Marc suffers from epilepsy. He was on the sofa and loses consciousness when he has a seizure"
"Stefan knows how to get out of the front door and must have gone to get his truck."
Alone with his unconscious dad, Stefan's instinct was to take matters into his own hands.
He went to find help by hopping into his Paw Patrol Marshall Fire Engine Ride-On Vehicle – an operable toy truck inspired by the popular Nickelodeon cartoon featuring a group of six rescue puppies who protect the community.
And just like the cartoon rescue puppies, Stefan was determined to provide assistance for his dad.
But seeing a three-year-old sharing a busy road on his toy truck was a distressing scene.
One witness said:
"The little boy was just trundling along the main road towards Bourne."
"There were three or four cars behind him, but he was so low that another impatient motorist overtook the line of traffic."
"But he was so low another impatient motorist overtook the line of traffic."
People were mortified that motorists were initially beeping and swerving out of the way instead of immediately stopping to help the boy.
The witness continued and mentioned the heroic woman.
"Then a woman stopped her van and parked it across the road to rescue him. She was very brave."
Neighbors went knocking from door to door and searched for the boy's parents while the second woman who took him into her home looked after him.
Locals eventually discovered his home in the hamlet of Twenty in Lincolnshire where Neve was tending to her incapacitated husband.
The distraught mother had called for an ambulance but was unaware her son was missing at the time.
After being alerted to what happened, Neve knew exactly what her little amateur driver was up to.
"He was definitely going for help.
"We live on a very quiet lane, and he uses his feet to push it along. It is quite a distance to the end of the lane where it meets the main road."
"When we spoke to the police Stefan said 'Daddy was poorly.'"
Inspector Rachel Blackwell of Lincolnshire Police told the Daily Mail:
"We have so much praise for the first passer-by who put herself at risk to stop a tragedy."
"Without her speedy actions the child could have been seriously injured or worse."
"The action of the second woman who opened her home was amazing. She entertained the boy while the first woman tried to track his family down."
"Dad is doing fine and the family are so thankful to these two amazing people."
Marc expressed his gratitude for his brave son and the women who rescued him.
"We are so proud of him and grateful to the two ladies."
"I suffer from seizures because of my epilepsy so it is life-threatening if I have one when I'm on my own."
"I am so proud of Stefan."
Paw Patrol's mantra is:
"No job is too big, no pup is too small."
And the brave little boy was certainly up for the challenge.
You can get your child his or her own Paw Patrol Marshall Fire Engine Ride-On Vehicle, right here.
But please remind your young driver that the vehicle is not meant for real roads.
Jane Rosenberg
Jane Rosenberg
@arianagrande/Instagram
@arianagrande/Instagram