1 week Ago By [email protected] (Liam Randall, Nicole Wootton-Cane)
Incredible footage has captured the moment the son of an ex-Wrexham manager bravely saved his elderly neighbour from a house fire. Joel Keates, son of former Wrexham boss Dean Keates, was up late ordering a McDonald's delivery at his Altrincham home in the early hours of Friday morning when he heard screams from outside. Joel quickly ran downstairs to see smoke pouring out of his elderly neighbour's windows and flames engulfing the property.
Without a second thought, the 17-year-old called the fire brigade and woke his father Dean, who had two stints as manager of the Hollywood-owned club and also served as captain during his playing days, and step-mother Emily Haddock for help. The family managed to get their neighbour to safety, with no serious injuries reported. The entire remarkable incident was caught on Dean and Emily's Ring doorbell camera.
The harrowing footage shows Joel sprinting to respond to his neighbour's cries before returning home and calling for assistance as thick smoke fills the air. "It was around 2am, and I'd ordered a McDonald's to the house because I'd just broken up for the Easter holidays," Joel told the Manchester Evening News. "I was sat up in my room and I heard screaming so I went to have a look.
It was pretty obvious there was a fire, there was smoke coming out of the windows and the roof - the house hadn't gone up in flames since but it did soon after." The A-level student, who is in the midst of exam preparations, has spoken about his instinctive reaction to the crisis. He said: "I didn't really have a second thought.
I'm not sure what was going through my mind." After ensuring his neighbour's safety, Joel described her as 'very shaken up' and recalled how she requested his company while he retrieved blankets and a coat for her. "I don't think the realisation of what happened has really hit me yet," Joel said.
"It's still not fully in my head that that's what I went and did." Joel's stepmother, Emily, conveyed the family's deep pride in his decisive action and courage. She said: "We've lived there for six years, and it's an elderly neighbour who we know pretty well.
We're extraordinarily proud of him and how brave he was. "He initially thought someone was being stabbed, so he was so brave to even come out and see what was going on. As you can see in the video, without a second thought he just ran to help.
We're very proud of him." Dean Keates made over 150 appearances between 2010 and 2015 and also had two managerial spells at the club after his retirement. He managed Wrexham from 2016 to 2018 before taking the helm at his childhood team, Walsall and then made a comeback in 2019.
He was also the man in charge when Hollywood stars Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney took over the club in 2021. Fans of the 'Welcome to Wrexham' series saw Dean in charge as monumental changes swept through the Racecourse Ground before the 2020/21 season ultimately ended in disappointment as they missed out on the playoffs. The outcome was that his contract was not renewed as the club decided to take a different path and appointed Phil Parkinson.
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