This is the heroic moment a brave teenager rushes to rescue his elderly neighbour as a blaze tore through her home.
Joel Keates, 17, was waiting for his late-night McDonald’s at his home in Altrincham, Greater Manchester, on April 4 when he heard blood-curdling screams from a neighbouring home in the early hours.
The young man, who is preparing for his BTEC exams, raced to the elderly woman’s home without a second thought as flames and clouds of smoke began to pour out of the windows.
Astonishing doorbell camera footage shows the brave teen rush towards the cries for help, quickly returning to his own home while relentlessly knocking on the door while calling for the help of his father and step-mother.
As thick smoke began to fill the sky, he and his father, Dean, hurried back to the woman’s home, saving her from the property as it was engulfed by ferocious flames.
After rescuing his neighbour thanks to his quick response, Joel waited with the ‘very shaken up’ elderly woman after getting blankets and a coat in a bid to keep her warm.
Fortunately, nobody was seriously injured during the terrifying ordeal.
Divulging the thoughts that raced through his mind, the teenager revealed he heard the word ‘go’ and ‘didn’t really have a second thought,’ telling the Manchester Evening News: ‘I don’t know what I was thinking.’
‘I don’t think the realisation of what happened has really hit me yet,’ he added. ‘It’s still not fully in my head that that’s what I went and did.’
His stepmother Emily Haddock said the family are ‘extraordinarily proud’ of the 17-year-old’s quick action to save their neighbour of six-years with whom they are well-acquainted.
‘We’re extraordinarily proud of him and how brave he was,’ she added, elaborating that the teen initially believed someone had been stabbed.
‘As you can see in the video, without a second thought he just ran to help. We’re very proud of him.’
has approached the Greater Manchester Fire Rescue Service for comment.