Viral video: Sanitation worker saves child's life in the nick of time

Rolandia - The boy failed to see the speeding car approaching from the opposite direction

A sanitation worker’s quick thinking — and reflexes — saved the life of a little boy in a video that has since gone viral.

The heroic act was caught on a home security camera in which a little boy, dressed in a red T-shirt, is seen waiting to cross a two-way street.

As he waits, a garbage truck rolls by slowly, at which point the boy — who was watching for incoming cars from only one side of the road — makes a quick dash across to the other side.

What he failed to see, however, was the speeding car approaching from the opposite direction.

The video shows the heart-stopping moment when a sanitation worker, standing at the back of the garbage truck, realises what is about to happen and jumps down to pull the boy out of harm's way. He is just in the nick of time too, because the oncoming car brushes past them not a second later, averting a potential tragedy.

The 11-second clip of the incident — which reportedly occurred in Rolandia, Brazil — has gone viral on Twitter and was shared by former professional basketball player Rex Chapman.

The video has so far garnered over 1.5 million views and 64,000 likes.

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Social media users were quick to shower the sanitation worker, Kelvin Jonathan dos Santos, with praise for his quick thinking.

Local media have reported that the child's family later met the worker and expressed their deep gratitude to him.

• Americas