Hero Dad Saves Baby Son as Car Smashes into Them
Dramatic video footage has emerged of a father saving his infant son by clutching steadfastly to him as a car strikes the man.
The traffic accident happened in the western Sydney suburb of Penrith in 2008 and was broadcast for the first time Monday on Australia's Nine Network.
The security camera footage shows a car plowing into Andrew Leitch as he held his son, Hayden, on a sidewalk near a shop front. Leitch's parents, standing nearby, were hit, and the baby's empty stroller was knocked flying.
Leitch turned at the last instant to shield Hayden, holding Hayden tightly to his chest as Leitch was pushed into the shop window. Leitch had his legs pinned by the car, which Nine said was driven by an elderly woman who had lost control of the vehicle.
As the car bore down, Leitch said he thought, "If they hit the back of me, break a leg or whatever, that's fixable. But if they hit my son, he's not fixable."
Leitch told the program his son wasn't hurt.
Leitch himself was shown climbing out from between the car and the shop front and suffered a broken leg. Both his parents were hospitalized with serious injuries, but survived, Nine reported.