A “superhero” nine-year-old stopped his neighbours’ new three-tonne van from rolling down the street and smashing into parked cars – using just his bare hands. Kameron Hunter was playing football outside his home in Nelson, Lancashire, when he spotted a neighbour’s Vauxhall Vivaro begin slowly rolling down the street.
The youngster quickly abandoned his ball, running to the front of the tool-packed van in an attempt to stop it with two hands on its front grill. A family friend rushed to alert the owner while 5st Kameron tried to halt the moving vehicle.
After 10 seconds of being pushed down the road, the brave youngster managed to stop the runaway van. He then held it in position “like a superhero” so it didn’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 son at first – telling him he could have been run over and killed. But after watching the footage, shot on July 21st, 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 it a week earlier, were so thankful that they 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 as “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 jumped into action after thinking how devastated his neighbours would be.
Kameron 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 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!”