TBO.com - TBO is Tampa Bay Online

Man Entering U.S. Rescues 9-Year-Old

ADVERTISEMENT

The Associated Press

Published: November 24, 2007

PHOENIX - A 9-year-old boy looking for help after his mother crashed their van in the southern Arizona desert was rescued by a man entering the United States illegally. The man stayed with the boy until help arrived the next day, an official said.

The 45-year-old woman, who died while awaiting help, had been driving on a U.S. Forest Service road in a remote area just north of the Mexican border when she lost control of her van on a curve on Thanksgiving, Sheriff Tony Estrada said.

The van vaulted into a canyon and landed 300 feet from the road, he said. The woman, from Rimrock, north of Phoenix, survived the impact but was pinned inside, Estrada said.

Her son, unhurt but disoriented, crawled out to get help and was found about two hours later by Jesus Manuel Cordova, 26, of Magdalena de Kino in the northern Mexican state of Sonora.

The woman died a short time later.

"He stayed with him, told him that everything was going to be all right," Estrada said.

As temperatures dropped, he gave the boy a jacket, built a bonfire and stayed with him until about 8 a.m. Friday, when hunters passed by and called authorities, Estrada said. The boy was flown to University Medical Center in Tucson as a precaution but appeared unhurt.

Cordova was taken into custody by Border Patrol agents. He had been trying to walk into the United States when he came across the boy.

Cordova likely saved the boy, Estrada said.

Share this:

Loading Comments...

Email Print

ADVERTISEMENT