Saints skipper praised for saving child in brilliant act

St Kilda captain Jarryn Geary has been praised for getting out of his car to save a child who had ridden onto a busy Melbourne road.

Paul Gavin Carlyle, who just happens to be a Saints fan, shared the scary but heartwarming story on Facebook on Thursday alongside a photo of Geary with his son Hugo.

"Unbelievable. This just happened," he wrote.

"Hugo and I were coming home from the park. Hugo was on his bike. To my shock, Hugo, who was about 100 metres ahead of me, decided to cross South Road on his own - which I still can't believe he did.

"It's a regular route we take, on foot and by bike. I'm very strict about crossing with me.

"Anyway, there I am, running down the foot path, yelling and waving, and a dude gets out of his car near Hugo, runs over to him and stops him going any further.

"As I get closer, I realise it's Jarryn Geary, Captain of the Sainters. I couldn't believe it. Still can't. LMAO."

Paul uploaded a second image later on Thursday, with Hugo clearly grateful that his hero stepped in.

The comments were in awe of Geary, who is far from a famous face in the AFL despite the respect he has earned inside the game.

"That's awesome. Bar the whole thinking your kid is going to get squashed part. What a nice man. (If it had happened to me, I wouldn't have known who the nice man was though)," wrote one person.

Another complimented Geary's on-field play at the same time: "Not the first critical save he's made this year either! On ya Gears you're a dead set bloody legend!"

Paul said he had emailed the club about the kind act, even if he was a little embarrassed about his reaction.

"I felt like a total goose at the time, waffling like a star struck teenager, lol," he wrote.