Jean Fernandes, an 11-year-old boy from Brazil, risked his life to save an injured dog that had been hit by a car. The injured dog was left lying in the road after the driver who struck it drove off.

Jean witnessed the event and ran between oncoming vehicles to save the dog. He picked up the helpless animal and brought it to safety. The heroic rescue was captured by photographer Rafaela Martinsa; the images are below.

Jean loves animals and often rescues those that he finds abandoned or abused. The dog, named Mel (which means honey in Portuguese) is still in the care of vets at a local animal control center but is doing just fine.

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