The moment a firefighter took time out to comfort a young boy in the aftermath of a car crash has been captured in a touching photo.
Firefighter Russell Whaley attended the scene of a road accident in Arizona. He spotted four-year-old Lucas looking shaken up while his mum and two-year-old sister were getting checked over by his colleagues.
Whaley initially distracted Lucas by starting a conversation about his Ninja Turtles T-shirt.
"The next thing I know, we have a book in front of us and he's sitting on my lap and we're reading a book on the side of the freeway," Whaley told TODAY.
A passerby, Steffani Blair, captured the moment and uploaded a photo of the pair to Facebook.
The photo has been shared more than 2,000 times within four days of being uploaded on 19 December.
Lucas' mum Shana Pacheco, 32, whose car was involved in the accident, said firefighters wanted to check she and her two-year-old daughter were okay first because they had the most visible damage.
This meant Lucas was left alone watching his mum being fitted with an oxygen mask.
"He started getting worried and scared," Pacheco said.
That's when Whaley stepped in to comfort Lucas so Pacheco and her daughter could be checked over thoroughly.
Pacheco said she was so grateful for the firefighter and his gesture that "wasn't part of his job".
She added: "The whole crew stayed with us until my husband got there and was able to take us home. They obviously didn't have to do that; I'm sure they had other calls."
Pacheco and her daughter had bruises, but thankfully no one involved in the car accident was seriously hurt.
As a thank you, the mum and Lucas baked the firefighters cookies. Lucas was given the opportunity to ride in the fire truck and get a badge of bravery.
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