Illegal immigrant saves boy after crash
November 25, 2007
BY TERRY TANG
PHOENIX -- A 9-year-old boy looking for help after his mother crashed their van Thursday in the southern Arizona desert was rescued by a man entering the U.S. illegally who stayed with him until help arrived Friday, an official said.
The 45-year-old woman, who died awaiting help, had been driving on a U.S. Forest Service road north of the Mexican border when she lost control of her van on Thanksgiving, Santa Cruz County Sheriff Tony Estrada said. The van vaulted into a canyon and landed 300 feet from the road, he said. The woman, from Rimrock, 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. Unable to pull the mother out, he comforted the boy while they waited for help. The woman died a short time later.
As temperatures dropped, he gave the boy a jacket, built a bonfire and stayed with him until about 8 a.m. Friday, when hunters called authorities, Estrada said.
Cordova was taken into custody by Border Patrol agents. It's likely that his actions saved the boy's life, Estrada said.
''They do get demonized for a lot of reasons, and they do a lot of good. Obviously this is one example of what an individual can do,'' he said.
AP
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