On July 20th, Pedro Jimenez Sanchez of Tulare, California, knew something wasn’t right when he saw a young girl run into traffic on a busy main road. He watched as the girl fell into a canal just off the road and he rushed to save her. Despite not knowing how to swim, Sanchez jumped into the water and grabbed the girl before the swiftly moving water swept her away.
A bystander called the Tulare Police Department (TPD) and within minutes, Officer Vasquez was running to assist Sanchez, who was having trouble keeping hold of the girl. They discovered later that the nine-year-old girl has special needs, explaining why she was resisting all efforts to help her. Sanchez and Officer Vasquez were able to pull the girl safely out of the water and fortunately, no one was seriously injured.
TPD later shared the story and bodycam footage of the incident on social media. Commenters to the post praised both the officer and Sanchez for saving the girl. TPD called Sanchez a “real life hero” and thanked him and Officer Vasquez for their “heroic and selfless actions.” For his part, Sanchez doesn’t think he’s a hero, he says he was just doing what he hopes someone would do if it was one of his kids in danger.
Source: KMPH