Man Trapped in Burning Hot Car Rescued by Pint-Sized Hero

Heroes come in all sizes.

When 68-year-old Bob King became trapped in his car last Saturday, the Tennessee summer heat turned the vehicle into a broiler reaching 120 degrees, ABC News reported.

King was waiting for his wife to return from a church event, and with no key to start the air conditioning and doors jammed shut — “We’ve been having trouble with the door on this car since we bought it,” King said — he quickly started sweating and overheating.

On top of it all, King had suffered through cancer treatments and two recent strokes, his wife said, leaving him “in very bad shape.”

Image source: ABC News

His saving grace: 3-year-old Keith Williams.

Image source: ABC News

The toddler, passing by in the church parking lot, saw King trapped in the car.

"I hollered at him and he just looked at me kind of funny and I said, 'Get help, get help,'" King said.

Keith tried to open the car door but couldn't, so he went to Pastor Jack Greene, of Vestal Baptist Church in Knoxville, to relay the cry for help.

“I was talking to someone and little Keith came behind me and kept saying, ‘Locked, locked, locked,” Greene told ABC.

He didn't get the message until Keith started patting and pulling his hand, saying “hot, hot,” Greene said.

“I followed him out,” Greene said. “When I saw Bob in the car, I said to myself, “Oh my Lord.’”

Greene wrenched open the car door and King tumbled out.

“His whole body was raining sweat," Greene said. "His face was red like a pickled beet."

Greene was concerned King would suffer another stroke, but the elderly man waived off the offer of an ambulance and, after some water and much-needed air conditioning, he recovered.

King said he owes his life to the "little preacher" Keith, and Keith, for his part, seems to know the significance of what he did.

"He was locked in the car," Keith said. "I saved his life."

ABC News | ABC Sports News

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