Graphic footage reveals moment US woman jumped in front of car, saved child

GRAPHIC CONTENT WARNING

This is the hair-raising moment a heroine saved a child's life by jumping in the way of a car as it rammed into the side of a restaurant.

The dramatic scene captured by surveillance video unfolded at Junco's in Bridgeport, Connecticut, where the woman, Shanta Jordan, dived in front of a speeding car to save a child she didn't know from a driver about to crash into a stone wall.

The pair flew into the air on impact, leaving both lying on the ground as bystanders rushed to help, the Daily Mail reports.

Police chief A J Perez "truly believes" the child - who was walking metres away from another woman and a child - would have died had the heroic woman not taken the impact of the car.

"I want to say thank you to this good person," Perez said. "If it wasn't because she stepped in, I truly believe it would have been a fatality."

Both amazingly survived the incident and were rushed to the hospital, where the woman is recovering and the child is healing from an operation, during which surgeons tried to save his legs.

A special tribute honouring Jordan will be held at City Hall next week.

The driver - who was also hospitalised - has been arrested and charged with reckless driving