After becoming trapped in an overheated car, 68-year-old Bob King was saved by a rather unlikely hero: 3-year-old Keith Williams. Illness and the scorching 120-degree heat had rendered King too weak to open the locked door on his own. Thankfully, Keith noticed King was in trouble and immediately ran to find someone strong enough to help.

Jenny King had left her husband in their car while she attended an event at the Vestal Baptist Church in Knoxville, Tenn., ABC News reported. She described her husband as “in very bad shape” and “could barely see anything” due to numerous cancer treatments and having suffered from two strokes in the past six months. The outdoor temperature was 91 degrees and indoor temperature was about 30 degrees higher. Unable to open the door on his own, King knocked on the window and caught the attention of 3-year-old Keith. “I hollered at him and he just looked at me kind of funny and I said, ‘Get help, get help,’” King told ABC News.

The toddler understood immediately that King was in trouble and ran off to find someone who could help. Keith ran up to his pastor Jack Greene, patting him on the back and repeating the words, “hot, hot.” “I told the gentleman: ‘Excuse me for a minute,’ and I followed [Keith] out. When I saw Bob in the car, I said to myself , “Oh my Lord,”” Greene explained.

Thankfully, the pastor was able to open the car door after a few tries and free King from the overheated closed quarters. “His whole body was raining sweat. His face was red like a pickled beet,” explained Greene of King’s appearance. Fortunately, his condition was not yet bad enough to warrant medical attention, and after a few minutes inside the air conditioned church, King began to feel better.

It turns out that little Keith knew exactly what could have happened to King in the hot car because it was only days earlier that his mother gave the toddler a lesson on hot car safety. “[Keith] said: ‘I saved life’ after I brought Bob inside,” Greene said. Of course, the youngster’s mother is overjoyed that her son not only listened to her lesson but acted on it. “I am very impressed and I’m proud that he would know what to do,” Keith’s mother, Jessie Williams, told ABC News.

So far in 2014, there have been 17 child deaths caused by heatstroke from being left in a car. Last year, there were a total of 44. A North Carolina dad has recently tried to raise awareness on the issue by filming himself doing the “Hot Car Challenge.” Heatstroke is a condition caused by your body overheating. It is usually caused by prolonged exposure or physically working in high temperatures. Heatstroke is considered a medical emergency. If left untreated, it can cause brain damage, as well as damage to the heart, kidneys, and muscles.

ABC News

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