No, he saved his son’s life.
A man who beats his son so that he nearly dies nearly kills his son.
Why do you lack compassion, or even empathy, for this man? What do you think you have to prove?
Words have meaning. This man was responsible for his son. Because of his negligence he was forced to decide between his son or his car. He chose well, but that does not make him a hero.
An analogy would be a man out for a walk with his 5-year-old son. The man jaywalks across a busy boulevard with his son trailing several feet behind him. At the last second he realizes that a car is about to strike his son and snatches his son out of the way. In both cases the man could have chosen to fulfill his responsibility as a parent but failed to do so. In this case, he could have held his son’s hand and crossed at the light. In the actual case, he could have kept the kid in the car until it was properly parked. In neither case is he a hero. He did not “save” his son, rather he managed to avoid getting his his son killed though his negligence.
It’s really quite simple but emotion seems to trump reality for a lot of folks.