The Lynnertic

Jesus Manuel Cordova

On Thanksgiving Day, Jesus Manuel Cordova, 26, of Magdalena de Kino in the northern Mexican state of Sonora, rescued a nine year old boy he found wandering the desert of Arizona looking for help. His mother lost control of her van and fell into a canyon along a Forestry Service Road just north of the Mexican border. They had been camping.

Jesus found the boy wandering the road and returned to the van to help his mother, who was pinned inside the van. He couldn’t pull her out and she perished.

Jesus stayed with her son until help arrived the next day, even though it meant sacrificing his own freedom.

Thank you, Jesus! I am inspired by your good heart and sacrifice. We all have something to learn from you.

“He stayed with him, told him that everything was going to be all right,” [Santa Cruz County Sheriff Tony Estrada] said.

As temperatures dropped, he gave him 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, who were the first to respond to the call for help. He had been trying to walk into the U.S. when he came across the boy.

The boy and his mother were in the area camping, Estrada said. The woman’s husband, the boy’s father, had died only two months ago. The names of the woman and her son were not being released until relatives were notified.

Cordova likely saved the boy, Estrada said, and his actions should remind people not to quickly characterize illegal immigrants as criminals.

-from Illegal immigrant rescues boy whose mother died in Ariz. crash, azcentral.com