Man Who Can’t Swim Sacrifices Himself To Save A Drowning 5-Year-Old
Victor Mozqueda, 22, left his home in Santa Clarita, California, on Saturday morning for a family trip to Sequoia National Park, when he gave his life to save a 5-year-old boy.
Mozqueda’s family arrived at the national park at approximately 7 a.m. and decided to for a walk along Kaweah River. Vincent Gonzalez, a five-year-old boy, slipped into the raging river, and Mozqueda – who didn’t know how to swim – jumped in after the boy to save him. Mozqueda held the boy above the water so he could breathe, even when the relentless currents kept pushing the two underwater.
A GoFundMe page was created for Mozqueda, to help the family pay for his funeral expenses. On the page, Mozqueda’s sister-in-law Carmen Hernandez wrote “he never let go of [Gonzalez] even when they went down under the [currents] a few times.” Hernandez also said that Mozqueda’s last effort to save the boy was to “throw Vincent out of the strong [current] so that his father could grab him.”
Three nearby fishermen and Gonzalez’s parents also helped get the child out, and one of the fishermen resuscitated the child by performing CPR. Gonzalez was transported via ambulance to Life Flight helicopter transport network, where he was flown to Kaweah Delta Medical Center in Visalia, California.
Sadly, it took rescuers two hours to find Mozqueda’s body. Mozqueda’s sister told local reporters that “God gave him super strength. He was holding that child above his head, and threw him up to the child’s father.” The child’s mother said “words cannot express how thankful I am to have my son back because of the selfless act he did for my son.”
This amazing selfless act by Mozqueda saved a little boy’s life, and will never be forgotten.
