A Surrey father who ran into moving traffic to save a child he had never met says he never thought twice. He just moved.
On July 21, 2026, Moti Johal and his wife were driving toward Langley near Highway 10 and 148 Street when they saw something no driver expects: a small, naked boy running alone straight through the busy intersection. Cars kept going. Johal did not.
He stopped his pickup truck in the middle of the road, jumped out, and ran into the lanes. Seconds later he had the boy in his arms and off the pavement. The child, who is deaf, non-verbal and autistic, was reunited with his family without a scratch.
For Johal, a new father himself, the decision came from somewhere instinctive.
“It was just an instinct that kicked in, to help the boy out and make sure he was safe,” Johal told StudioX News.
The rescue was captured on video and spread quickly across Canada, drawing thousands of messages of thanks. Johal has repeatedly waved off the word hero, pointing the attention back to the people who reached out.
“I just want to thank the community for such positive feedback and support and all the love,” he said.
The recognition came fast. The Surrey Police Service invited Johal to its headquarters and honoured him for his bravery, marking the July incident and the split-second decision behind it. Days later, Surrey North MLA Mandeep Dhaliwal hosted Johal at his constituency office and presented him with a certificate of appreciation on behalf of the community.
Johal says the honours mean a lot, but his message is simpler than any award.
“The biggest thing is the little boy is safe. That’s the biggest news,” Johal said.
That message carries weight in a city like Surrey, where families with young children and vulnerable loved ones share the same fast intersections every day. Children who are non-verbal or autistic can wander without warning, and the seconds a driver takes to react can decide everything. Johal’s stop was one of those seconds.
For a community that watched the video and held its breath, the ending is the part that matters: a boy home safe, a family whole, and a Surrey dad who insists he only did what he hoped anyone else would.
This is an original StudioX News interview. Video of the full conversation is available on the StudioX News YouTube channel. Surrey #SurreyBC #MotiJohal #Highway10 #GoodSamaritan #SurreyHero #StudioXNews
Harnaik Singh Rathor is the Founder, Publisher, and Editor-in-Chief of StudioX News Canada, Canada's multilingual digital news network serving diaspora communities across 44 languages. With a background in media production, public relations, and multicultural communications, he founded StudioX Film and TV Corporation to bridge the gap between mainstream Canadian media and the country's diverse immigrant communities. He is a member of the Canadian Association of Journalists (CAJ), RTDNA Canada, CPRS Vancouver, NEPMCC, and the Canadian Freelance Union (Unifor). Based in Surrey, British Columbia. | LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/harnaiksinghrathor/ | Muck Rack: https://muckrack.com/harnaiksinghrathor | Email: editor@studioxnews.ca
