Story By: James King, Sub-Editor: Marija Stojkoska, Agency: Newsflash

This is the incredible moment a dad throws himself down a bank and lands just in time to catch his toddler son before he falls on the rocks below.

The footage was captured by a CCTV camera in the prefecture-level city of Suizhou in northern Hubei Province, in the People’s Republic of China.

The dad is seen standing at the top of the bank above a steep drop down to rocks, which surround what was described in local media as a large pond, when the accident unfolds.

The toddler is seen slightly behind his dad in the footage, and he accidentally topples forward after he runs out from behind a slightly older girl who is also standing above the drop.

The momentum of the fall sends the youngster plunging headfirst over the drop, yet incredibly, the dad leaps into action and jumps down onto the spot below the toddler, where he reaches out his hands and grabs the child before any serious harm is inflicted.

The relieved dad then cuddles the toddler in his arms, as people above run over to check that the child is okay.

The man’s quick reactions were widely praised online, with many commenting that only a parent could have reacted so quickly when seeing that their child was in danger.