A 6 year-old boy is being hailed as a hero for saving the life of his substitute teacher after she fell and hit her head in class.

Joyce Darr is a substitute teacher who was working with a class full of kindergartners when she fell and hit her head on a desk, leaving her unconscious.

Since Joyce had lost consciousness, her little students were the only ones who could help her. Thankfully, 6 year-old Max Meza knew exactly what to do. Running out of the room, Max screamed “We need help!” until he found school staffers, who then called 911.

Joyce’s injuries ended up being so serious that she had to be put in intensive care. She had cracked her skull and suffered a brain bleed, which meant she had to be placed on life support for twelve days. Joyce was luckily able to push through, and she is still recovering her strength at this time.

Joyce’s family now credits Max with saving her life, and her son even brought the 6-year-old hero a new pair of shoes as a thank-you gift for getting his mom the helped she needed.

The local sheriff’s office also praised Max, going so far as to recognize him with a special ceremony at his school.

“He was the leader. He was the hero, and we’re proud of him,” the sheriff said at the ceremony. “If everyone would be like Max, this would be a better world.”

Find out more about this little hero in the video below.