A hike went terribly wrong. Leroy Sanders and his baby had fallen off a cliff. Luckily, a passerby showed up and knew what to do.
On a Sunday in April, Leroy Sanders, his girlfriend Trisha-Lynne Handy, and their seven-month-old baby, Lillian, went for a hike at Tonto National Bridge Park.
At first, it was a relaxing walk. Then disaster struck. Leroy lost his footing. He and his baby, who was strapped to his chest, started falling over the edge of a cliff.
Leroy told 12 News:
“I was trying to grasp and dig my hands into the dirt and grab the bushes. I was trying to hold her.”
Leroy managed to slow their fall. But they still fell 25 feet down a steep slope. Trisha-Lynne couldn’t see them and had no idea how to get them back to safety.
The mom said:
“As soon as he started going over, I thought, I thought they were gone.”
Luckily, David Agide and two other passersby heard Lillian calling for help.
The three strangers ran to the screams to see what was wrong.
Lillian explained to the strangers that her boyfriend and baby had fallen down the cliff.
David and the others had never met before. But David took the lead and told them how they could all get to Leroy and Lillian.
They formed a human chain and lay against the slope. Then they slowly moved their bodies across the ground in case they lost their footing themselves.
Soon, David, who was at the front of the chain, could see Leroy and Lillian. They had been scraped. He hoped they could make their way up the cliff.
David tried to reach the dad and the baby. But they were too far away. Then David had a bright idea. He removed the belt from around his waist and used that to extend his reach by a few feet.
Leroy grasped on to the belt and lifted himself and Lillian up from the ground.
Leroy unstrapped Lillian from this chest and handed him to David. David passed the baby up through the chain. Soon, she was safely in her mother’s arms. Trisha-Lynne was relieved to see that the infant was mostly ok.
Next, David and the others helped Leroy make his way up the cliff. Soon, he too was back on the trail.
Just to be safe, Leroy decided that he and his baby should go to the hospital. Unfortunately, they rushed away so fast that they didn’t get the names of the people who had saved them.
A few days later, Leroy and Trisha-Lynne had managed to locate David. They arranged to meet up with him in person.
Soon, David learned just how grateful the family was. They even called him their guardian angel!
Unfortunately, the identity of the other two strangers who formed the human chain remains a mystery.
Leroy and Trisha Lynne are looking for them though, as they really want to show their appreciation.
People like David and the other two strangers really show that there’s hope for the world. They could have just ignored Trisha-Lynne’s calls for help. Instead, they rushed to the scene and did all that they could to rescue Leroy and Lillian.
Be sure to watch the video below to see the family meet with their guardian angel!
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