An appropriate single word or phrase for "life-saving moment" please?

This is my first question ever. Sorry for the lack of brevity. What word would describe a life-saving moment?

When my father was taken prisoner in WWII, he was prodded, by a soldier's bayonet in his spine, into a large tent. His arms were high in the air. A young private who looked very stressed was standing 10 feet in front of my father. He suddenly charged towards my captive father with his rifle's bayonet aimed at his abdomen. A sergeant quickly raised his leg and kicked the private's rifle aside so the bayonet missed my father's body by a couple of inches.

Decades later, as he held an infant, his first grandchild in his arms, my father muttered something about, "That sergeant's big boot." If not for that life-saving moment, not my dad, nor his son, nor his grandson would exist.

What word is appropriate for such a life-saving moment? Thanks very much.

He'll never forget that fateful gesture.

(The word fateful usually refers to bad events, but not always. The event you describe is in fact ominous, even though it turned out OK.)

Another possibility is pivotal, though I'm not sure it's the best fit for this context.

A common idiom for this is brush with death.

brush with death - an instance of nearly dying.

This phrase has the benefit of not necessarily implying that the event is epiphanic or pivotal or character-changing. It's just a mere brush with death, to make of it what you will.