Football manager’s son hailed a hero after saving elderly neighbour from burning home

It was captured on their Ring doorbell

Joel Keates, whose dad Dean had two spells in charge of the Welsh club, was up late ordering a McDonald's delivery to his home in Altrincham in the early hours of Friday, April 4, when he heard screams outside.

The 17-year-old dashed downstairs to see smoke billowing from his elderly neighbour's windows and flames taking over. 

The teenager rang the fire brigade before rushing back to rouse his dad Dean, and step-mum Emily Haddock for additional assistance.

The family rushed over to assist their neighbour to safety, with no serious injuries reported.

The terrifying incident was captured on Dean and Emily's ring doorbell camera.

The footage shows Joel sprinting to answer his neighbour's cries before returning home and calling for help, as dense smoke fills the air. 

He told the Manchester Evening News: "It was around 2am, and I'd ordered a McDonald's to the house because I'd just broken up for the Easter holidays.

"I was sat up in my room and I heard screaming so I went to have a look. It was pretty obvious there was a fire, there was smoke coming out of the windows and the roof - the house hadn't gone up in flames since but it did soon after."

The A-level student, who is currently preparing for his exams said he didn't give it a second thought and just rushed to see how he could help.

Joel's stepmum, Emily, expressed the family's immense pride in his quick thinking and bravery. She said: "We've lived there for six years, and it's an elderly neighbour who we know pretty well. We're extraordinarily proud of him and how brave he was.

"He initially thought someone was being stabbed, so he was so brave to even come out and see what was going on. As you can see in the video, without a second thought he just ran to help. We're very proud of him."

His dad Dean played over 150 games for Wrexham between 2010 and 2015 and had two stints as manager after his retirement. He was in charge between 2016 and 2018 before leaving to manage Walsall, but returned in 2019.

When Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney took over the club in 2021, he was the man in the dugout and was part of the 'Welcome to Wrexham' series.