Hero boy, 11, resuscitates father after crash then runs two miles barefoot to raise alarm

Lachlan Nally said was forced to act after his after his parent Matthew Nally skidded off the road and rolled several times into a field 112 miles north of Adelaide, Australia.

After the midnight crash Lachlan, nickamed "Lochie", noticed his father's chest was not moving and performed mouth-to-mouth resuscitation until the 36-year-old man began breathing again

And despite suffering seat belt burns, two lumps on his head and a grazed back, the boy bravely climbed out of a window and ran without shoes to a pub in the town of Koolunga, where his knocking woke the owners.

"I was shocked then I went in the car and Dad wasn't talking so I went back to the pub because they were the only people I knew in Koolunga," he said.

"I was scared and it was pitch black and I couldn't see anything because it was dark."

Lachlan, who has been hailed by the authorities as a hero, explained that the first aid skills that saved his father's life had been learnt at school.

"I did mouth-to-mouth and then he started breathing again, and then I went and got help," he said. "We got taught at school by an ambulance person."

Lachlan's mother, Kim March, who woke about 3am to find her son at her door with police, described her son as fearless and as someone who would help anyone out.

"He jumped out the window and he ran for help and that just blew me away," she said.

"For 3km and it's pitch dark by yourself for a little boy it's, like, amazing, so I told him he's saved his Dad's life."

Inspector Graham Goodwin, the local police chief, said that Lachlan would be given a bravery award for his courage.

He said: "We think it's one of the more heroic acts we've seen here and the police will certainly be recognising that in some form."

Mr Nally was taken by helicopter to the Royal Adelaide Hospital, where he was reported to be in a critical condition.

Police are investigating the circumstances of the accident.