'My son is my hero': California teen saves dad pinned under truck

OAKDALE, Calif. - A California father is hailing his teenage son as a hero for saving his life when he became pinned under the family's truck. 

Matthew Wilkinson of Oakdale told KCRA that he and his son were fixing the brakes on his work truck late Monday night. Wilkinson said his son, Dalin, routinely works on the vehicle with him.

However, 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. I was just squished. I couldn't talk. I couldn't yell."

His son sprang into action and managed to lift the truck enough for Wilkinson to get out. 

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The accident left him with a punctured lung, broken ribs and a separated shoulder.

Wilkinson couldn't remember how he escaped, but a surveillance camera recorded his son's physical feat. 

"I called my kid and had him look at them look at the surveillance camera, and they realized that he had lifted the truck enough for me to roll out," he said.

Dalin, a 15-year-old freshman at Oakdale High School, recalled coming to his dad's rescue.

"It just dropped right on him. I was scared. I heard him make a noise like his soul was leaving his body. It was crazy," Dalin said. "I just ran over and tried as hard as I could to get it up enough to get him out."

His father says his son's quick thinking saved his life.

"My son is my hero," the elder Wilkinson said.