When little Salvatore Cicalese saw that his mother had 'died in the shower,' he instinctively picked up his baby sister.

The 5-year-old boy wrapped his two-month-old sister in a blanket and carried her to the neighbor's house. The stunned woman answered her door, at first disbelieving what she saw.

When she spoke to ABC, neighbour Jessica Penoyer said: "He's standing there and he's holding something I thought it was a doll." She added that she thought Salvatore was telling her his dog had died, but was then told, 'No, my mom died in the shower. Can you take care of us?'

The brave boy told his neighbor that he managed to climb onto a bar stool and reach the button for the garage door. He fell on his first try, but go the door open on his second attempt.

He confessed that he took his baby sister out of the house so she wouldn't have to see their mother's body.

Concerned, Jessica called 911 and emergency services rushed to Salvatore's house. There, they found his mother, Kaitlyn Cicalese, unconscious in the bath, with the shower still running.

Thankfully, Kaitlyn is unharmed and very grateful to her little hero. "He saved my life, because I was under the tap. I would have drowned."

Now little Salvatore checks on his mother every day, to make sure that she is OK.

"He'll tell me, 'are you going to have another seizure?'. No, I'm okay." Says Kaitlyn, " 'Are you going to die today?'. No, I'm not going to die today."

Thanks to his quick thinking, Salvatore was made an honorary fireman by the local firehouse.