A teenager in Oakdale, California saved his father’s life in November by lifting a truck off of him as they were working on it.
After returning home late on a Monday night, Matthew Wilkinson needed to fix his work truck and so he asked his son to help him, a job they had done many times before Wilkinson told KCRA 3. Because the rotor was stuck, Wilkinson “couldn’t get a good angle,” so he went under the truck to hit it. The rotor came off, and the truck fell. (RELATED: ‘He’s Our Hero’: School Resource Officer Rams Truck During High Speed Chase Near School)
‘My son is my hero’: Oakdale teen lifts truck enough to free trapped father beneath https://t.co/GhHCWhrzUy
— kcranews (@kcranews) December 3, 2022
“I know it rolled forward because I saw it roll forward and it fell right on top of me,” Wilkinson told KCRA 3. “All I could think about was the breath coming out of me. I was just squished. I couldn’t talk. I couldn’t yell.”
Wilkinson could not understand how he freed himself from the truck, so he asked his son, a freshman at Oakdale High School, to view the surveillance footage. The footage showed that his 15-year-old son had raised the truck just enough for his father to escape.
In Oakdale, California, Matthew Wilkinson was working on his truck when it fell, pinning him underneath. His 15-year-old son Dalin was nearby and able to lift the truck, freeing his dad. Absolutely incredible! pic.twitter.com/Yp56Tc6cVd
— Chad Baker (@ChadBlue83) December 3, 2022
“It just dropped right on him,” Dalin Wilkinson told KCRA 3. “I was scared. I heard him make a noise like his soul was leaving his body. It was crazy. I just ran over and tried as hard as I could to get it up enough to get him out.”
“My son is my hero. He saved my life,” Matthew Wilkinson told KCRA 3.