An American father has been hailed as something of a superhero after his exceptionally quick reflexes helped him save his son from a rogue baseball bat headed straight for his face.
Seriously, there's a reason they say a picture is worth a thousand words:
Shaun Cunningham, from Florida, took his son Landon out for a Major League baseball game between the Atlanta Braves and the Pittsburgh Pirates for his ninth birthday on March 5. Little did they know this match would make them famous all over the world.
Somewhere along the game, Pirates player CF Andrew McCutchen swung his bat a little too hard and managed to lose it among the cheering crowd. The flying bat's unwitting target just happened to be little Landon.
The kid, busy sending a picture of the match to his mother, didn't notice the bat coming his way. But luckily for him, his dad did. And so did sports photojournalist Christopher Horner who caught the exact moment Mr Cunningham stuck his hand out and blocked the bat from hitting Landon, saving him a trip to the emergency room.
The photos of the save have since gone viral with over 4,400 retweets and almost 4,700 'likes'.
"It's been crazy," Shaun Cunningham, 37, told The New York Times. "The last 24 hours have been out of control," he added. And there's no denying that all the praise is really well-deserved.
"Thank God he has those reflexes," Mr Cunningham's wife, Ashley told TribLive.com. "That bat was flying dead-center toward Landon's head."
That's a story this family will be telling and re-telling for years to come. As for little Landon, hope this was a great birthday.
Seriously, there's a reason they say a picture is worth a thousand words:
Shaun Cunningham, from Florida, took his son Landon out for a Major League baseball game between the Atlanta Braves and the Pittsburgh Pirates for his ninth birthday on March 5. Little did they know this match would make them famous all over the world.
Somewhere along the game, Pirates player CF Andrew McCutchen swung his bat a little too hard and managed to lose it among the cheering crowd. The flying bat's unwitting target just happened to be little Landon.
The kid, busy sending a picture of the match to his mother, didn't notice the bat coming his way. But luckily for him, his dad did. And so did sports photojournalist Christopher Horner who caught the exact moment Mr Cunningham stuck his hand out and blocked the bat from hitting Landon, saving him a trip to the emergency room.
@BiertempfelTrib The two frames showing just how close the bat was to the boy's head. pic.twitter.com/7VwnfWp8L1
- Christopher Horner (@Hornerfoto1) March 6, 2016
The photos of the save have since gone viral with over 4,400 retweets and almost 4,700 'likes'.
"It's been crazy," Shaun Cunningham, 37, told The New York Times. "The last 24 hours have been out of control," he added. And there's no denying that all the praise is really well-deserved.
"Thank God he has those reflexes," Mr Cunningham's wife, Ashley told TribLive.com. "That bat was flying dead-center toward Landon's head."
That's a story this family will be telling and re-telling for years to come. As for little Landon, hope this was a great birthday.
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