San Dimas Student Athletes Save Life

On January 27th, four San Dimas High School baseball athletes helped save a man’s life after they were exiting Jack-in-the-Box during lunch. Thankfully, they were able to come to the man’s rescue and aid him until first responders were able to arrive. Without the four boys’ help, this life-threatening situation could have taken a turn for the worse.

The four students, Stevie Rosales (12), Steve Moran (11), Sergio Robles (11), and Robert Smith (11)  went to Jack-in-the-Box for what they thought was a normal lunch. The boys ordered their food to go and were getting ready to head back to San Dimas High. As they were exiting, they saw an elderly man start stumbling and falling. The students decided to make a split-second decision, drop their food, and assist the man. When asked what was going through his head, junior Steven Moran said, “at first, we were in shock and worried. We walked over to him and kept checking in making sure he was okay and that he was still responding to us.”

The man claimed to be okay, but they noticed something was off and didn’t want to leave his side until they were positive he was in safe hands. So they helped him towards the AMPM, where he wasn’t in danger, and continued to stay by his side while Stevie Rosales called 911. “We proceeded to pick him up and cautiously move him to the sidewalk. We waited for the ambulance but we were all worried for him because we wanted to make sure he was okay but weren’t quite sure what we should do next,” said Moran.

Although the man claimed to be okay, doctors said he had an irregular heartbeat and something very dangerous could’ve happened if an ambulance didn’t get to him. As the elderly man was being taken in the ambulance he repeated, “These kids are my heroes. They saved my life.”

After the situation had calmed down medics and firefighters said the man was going to be okay, Stevie Rosales made a request to one of the firefighters that he had never heard before. The boys were more than half an hour late getting back to school so Rosales asked if the firefighter could write them a note explaining why they were late.

“The whole situation was so unreal to me, and I asked for the note for proof just in case faculty didn’t believe us,” explained Rosales. He went on to say, “It was hard for all of us to believe what just happened. I’ve never been in a spot like that but I was taught to always be ready for one. I didn’t think it was going to happen on that day, but I’m just happy we were able to help.”

Before the four student-athletes knew it, they were being recognized as heroes by their peers, teachers, community, and even the Mayor of San Dimas. “We didn’t think this would be such a big story throughout the city. We truly were doing the right thing and what anyone should have done,” said Moran. “They call us heroes, but we don’t think so. The real heroes are the paramedics and firefighters that helped him.”