Shaun Cunningham, of Marion County, Florida, reached out his arm to save his son Landon

Hero dad who was ‘Dad mode’ to save his son from being hit by a flying baseball bat

My dad’s a hero!

To celebrate his son Landon’s ninth birthday the weekend of March 2016, Shaun Cunningham took him to his first baseball game.

It was a spring training match between the Atlanta Braves and the Pittsburgh Pirates, at a stadium in Lake Buena Vista, Fla. Pirates outfielder Danny Ortiz was swinging when he lost control, letting the bat slipped from his grasp and hurtle toward the stands.

At the same time, Landon was texting a photo of the game to his mother. “Look how it turned out!” he typed into a cellphone.

The ensuing seconds could have ended in disaster.

As the errant bat flew toward them, seemingly homed in on Landon’s face, the 37-year-old Cunningham a firefighter who played baseball in high school went into “dad mode.”

“I didn’t have a whole lot of time to think about it,” he said. “It was dad mode, you know, protecting my son. So, I just did what I could.”

Incredible photographs capture the precise moment the 37-year-old put out his arm to block the flying bat – which was just inches from his son’s face – as the rest of the crowd recoiled in fear.

Thrusting out one arm, Cunningham deflected the bat’s trajectory. It hit him, leaving a deep bruise, then continued flying over Landon’s head.

Down went the arm. Up went Landon’s gaze.

The boy was safe.

When the boy’s mother, Ashley, saw how close her son had come to injury, she was horrified.

“As a mother, it’s a very scary picture, seeing it all caught in action. (Shaun) was definitely the epitome of hero to my son and my daughter that weekend.” “I definitely think he had the hand of God, guardian angel, whatever you want to call it, watching over him that day. Absolutely,” she said.

Hero Dad Saves Son’s Head From Flying Baseball Bat

Landon had something else to commemorate his memorable big-league birthday, aside from the photo of the near-miss.

The Braves sent him an autographed jersey from his favorite player, Atlanta All-Star first baseman Freddie Freeman.

“Oh, my goodness,” an astonished Landon said after Al Roker told him the news on Tuesday’s show.

While the bat incident was a little scary for Landon, Shaun made sure it was a day to remember.

“My first baseball game was amazing,” Landon said.

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