A split second was all it took for an Idaho dad to change his life around.
Matthew Sidwell (@sidwell.fitness) shared heart-stopping home security footage on Instagram that captured the moment his 2-year-old son slipped out the front door and sprinted into the street—just as a car passed by, missing the toddler by inches.
“In that moment, all I felt was terror,” the 32-year-old Newsweek. “I saw [him] sprinting straight toward traffic and my only thought was, ‘Please, God, let me get to him in time.’ Everything else disappeared—no sound, no thought, just instinct.”
Wyatt, who is autistic, had managed to quietly unlock the deadbolt and slip out of the front door barefoot. By chance, he hesitated just long enough to avoid the car driving up the street.
“He had no idea what almost happened; that’s the hardest part,” Sidwell told Newsweek. “But it reminded me how quickly everything can change—and how much we have to stay ready.”
The scare also brought a deeper issue into sharp focus for the father of four who, at the time, struggled with his weight, drinking habits and energy levels.
“The moment I saw that car miss Wyatt by a split second, I felt sick to my stomach,” he said. “We got lucky this time, but luck isn’t a plan. That realization changed me. It woke something up in me. I won’t rely on chance again—I’ll rely on being ready.”
That night, the parents installed safety knob covers and began childproofing the house, and that’s when the true transformation began.
Months after the near-miss, Sidwell’s wife brought up the idea of having another baby. At first, he resisted. “I was scared—scared of going through that again, scared of having another child with autism, scared I wasn’t enough as a father,” he said.
When his wife got pregnant, Sidwell knew things had to change. He told Newsweek that he was overweight and drinking too much.
“If I was going to be a dad again, I couldn’t stay the man I was,” he said. “I wasn’t proud of the example I was setting.”
On April 8, 2023, Sidwell had his last drink. He hired a fitness coach, committed to working out five to six days a week, overhauled his diet and began documenting his progress.
By the time his fourth child was born, Sidwell told Newsweek that he had lost weight and regained control of his life again.
“That moment with Wyatt was terrifying, but it woke me up,” he said. “And I’ve been wide awake ever since.”
Now, as a fitness coach who helps other parents stay in shape, the priority isn’t about looks or aesthetic gains.
“It’s not about abs, it’s not about how I look in the mirror—it’s about how I lead my family and what I pass down to my kids,” he said.
After more than a decade working in a prison, Sidwell has seen firsthand what happens when pain and unhealthy habits pass from one generation to the next.
He’s determined not to let that happen in his home. “Our kids might not always listen to what we say—but they never fail to copy what we do,” he told Newsweek. “I want them to see consistency, discipline, and self-respect. That’s the legacy I want to leave behind.”
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