Life happens quickly and sometimes what starts as an ordinary day suddenly turns in an instant into something you never saw coming. This is what happened to a boy named Rocco Arcese, who went from an ordinary kid to a real-life hero while he was headed to Joyce Kilmer Middle School in New Jersey.

An ordinary day
At first, it seemed like a typical day for the fourth-grader. But by 10 AM, he was being praised for his quick actions.

The 11-year-old had been going about his daily routine: getting ready for school and heading for the bus stop. He was the first stop on the bus’s route, so he usually didn’t have to wait long.

A strange smell
When the school bus arrived, Rocco got on the bus and rode barely 300 yards on Chapel Road before he started smelling something odd.

He could smell some type of burning that reminded him of burnt rubber and figured it would be best to alert the driver. In an interview with CBS New York, he explained: