This is the moment a brave little lad risked his life to save his pet dog after grabbing its leash when the elevator doors closed on its leash.

The footage shows a boy, who is barefooted and taking the dog named Milu for a walk, does not notice when the doors are shut on the leash in the municipality of Goiania, in Brazil on 23rd August.

The unsuspecting child, named Thiago Magalhaes, aged 11, is seen gazing in the mirror when the lift starts to move and he sees suddenly that the lead is trapped in the door.

As quick as a flash, he turns around and grabs the leash in his hands as the dog is lifted into the air, and then seconds later the boy along with the leash is hoisted upwards.

His extra weight appears to have triggered an alarm and the lift which is on the seventh floor suddenly stops, with the boy an instant away from having his hands and the dog’s body smashed against the door.

Hanging in the air, he then refuses to let go until the tiny dog is freed and drops to the ground a second before the boy himself, who then tries to remove the harness so that the lift can continue its journey.

When it remained stuck, he used the emergency button and was later freed.

Speaking afterwards to local media, Thiago said: “I don’t know where I got the courage, I went on impulse.”

The lad’s dad Rodrigo Magalhaes said he had been shocked when he saw the video saying: “I was very scared by what happened and realized that the situation was very serious and that it could have been fatal for both the dog and my son.”