A brave Donegal schoolboy has been branded a hero after helping to save his family from their overturned car on Wednesday night.
8-year-old Caiden Sweeney from Killygordon near Ballybofey, opened his door and crawled out of the Nissan Qashqai in his bare feet before waving down a car from the road for help.
His mum Maria, his older sister and her boyfriend were trapped in the car at the time and struggled to get free but Caiden "never cried, whimpered or squealed" throughout the brutal crash and calmly escaped the family car for help.
Their car was smashed into at a crossroads near Castlefinn at around 8pm with the thankful mum still in shock at the incident.
She told the Irish Daily Mirror: "I saw the headlights coming to my left and I tried to avoid them.
"He clipped the back end of my car and we spun out of control. When it came to a stop we were upside down.
"I couldn't move as my feet were stuck but he (Caiden) never cried, whimpered or squealed. He opened his wee door and hopped out with his blanket and waved down a car in his bare feet."
The young boy was left with just a few small marks from his seatbelt but his mum and sister were taken to Letterkenny General Hospital.
"We were shook up," Maria said.
"We were taken to Letterkenny while my sister brought Caiden home.
"He said after, 'That was cool, can we do it again in a rally car?' and I told him we will not."
She added: "I always called him my wee hero when speaking about him, 'my wee hero is here asleep beside me or giving me a cuddle',
"... but he went and proved it on Wednesday night."
The Dromore National School pupil "is lapping it up" since the incident with his aunt Michelle buying him a 'hero' card and cake to celebrate his bravery.
A Garda spokeswoman said: "Gardaí are investigating a hit and run road material damage road traffic collision which occurred in the Corcullion, Castlefin, Co Donegal on the 25th November 2020 at approximately 8:00pm."
