Man saves 3 girls trapped in runaway car

To say things could have been a lot worse is an understatement.

David Cincotta was going about his business at a gas station in North Babylon, N.Y., last month when he noticed something troubling: a car rolling backward.

Cincotta, 43, ran after the car, managed to get inside, and put on the brakes before the vehicle could roll onto the street and into oncoming traffic, all of which was caught on tape by a security camera.

Cincotta, a father of six, spoke to WABC in New York about hearing the screams of the kids and giving chase. "I didn't even think," he said. "It was just 'Go.'"

What make's Cincotta's heroics even more impressive is his medical condition: Cincotta can't run.

"I have neuropathy up through my hips from diabetes, so I trip a lot, just walking," Cincotta said. "So for me to run, any of my friends who saw the video were like, 'I never seen you run like that.' Me, neither."

Gas station worker Naqqash Chaudhry told WABC, "I have no doubt in my mind that car would have been hit and those kids would have been injured."

The security footage shows the children's mother initially giving chase, but falling to the ground. The car then rolled over her leg. Cincotta jumped into the car and stopped it.

Cincotta told WABC that he hasn't talked to the mother since the incident last month, but that she did thank him profusely. "She gave me a big hug. She was crying, 'Thank you, thank you, thank you.'"

Despite the car having rolled over her leg, the mother reportedly suffered only minor injuries.

Follow Mike Krumboltz on Twitter (@mikekrumboltz)