Teenager saves father from being crushed by collapsed truck

A California teenager from Oakdale is being hailed as a hero after he lifted a truck to free his father, who had gotten trapped underneath.

While speaking to KCRA, an NBC affiliate, Matthew Wilkinson said that a normal Monday night turned deadly after he decided to fix the brakes on his truck.

The father enlisted the help of his 15-year-old son, Dalin. Even though they have worked on the vehicle many times before, Wilkinson noticed that something was wrong this time: the rotor was stuck.

“I couldn’t get a good angle, so I slid my body underneath the truck and was hitting it,” he told KCRA. “The second it popped off, the truck fell."

"I know it rolled forward because I saw it roll forward and it fell right on top of me. All I could think about was the breath coming out of me," Wilkinson continued. "I was just squished. I couldn’t talk. I couldn’t yell.”

The security cameras from Wilkinson's home captured the entire incident, which left Wilkinson with a punctured lung, broken ribs and a separated shoulder.

“It just dropped right on him. I was scared," Dalin recalled to KCRA. "I heard him make a noise like his soul was leaving his body. It was crazy."

With Wilkinson stuck underneath the truck, Dalin had to think fast.

“I just ran over and tried as hard as I could to get it up enough to get him out," said the high school freshman.

The boy had just enough strength to lift the truck so that his father could roll himself out.

After being rushed to the hospital, Wilkinson didn't know what happened until he looked at the security camera placed outside his home. That was when he realized that he owed his life to Dalin.

“My son is my hero," said Wilkinson. "He saved my life."

This article was originally published on TODAY.com