Arizona man dead after saving coworker from floodwaters
A community outside Phoenix is reeling from deadly flash floods
PHOENIX, Ariz. (KYMA, KECY/CNN) - Coworkers, brothers-and-sisters-in-Chirst, and neighbors who knew Jesus Perez always called him "Pancho."
"Even to the grocery store. They'd be like, 'Hey, Pancho!' and they would talk there for hours," remembers his daughter Amairini Echeverria.
Pancho had been a dairyman for over 25 years. However, he never made it to work on Saturday because he sacrificed his life to save someone.
The flash floods had caught Pancho's coworker, whom was stuck in her car with no way out.
She began going through her phone list, frantically calling for help. Pancho was the one who responded.
Echeverria continues, "My dad was that type of guy -- 'you need help? I'm gonna help you.' and that's what dad did.
"Yo visualizo eso. Dijeron, 'ayudanme!' y la ayudo sin pensarla. Es el. Yo voy a ayudar, no voy a pensar," expressed Jesus' wife Suhail Perez. (translation: "I can picture it: she said, 'help me!' and he helped her without thinking about it. That's him. 'I'm going to help without a second thought."
Pancho was able to get his coworker safely onto the roof of the car, but suddenly the floodwaters swept him away.
Perez continues, "Solamente el senor nos da la fuerza que tenemos, pero no hay palabras. Ni unas palabras para reconfortar una perdida. No hay." (translation "The lord alone is giving us the strength that we have. There are no words -- no words -- to comfort this loss. No words.")
He is survived by his three daughters and wife. They are currently planning his funeral at the family's Buckeye Church.
No matter if it meant putting himself at risk, Pancho's family remembers him as always willing to do what what right - even in those last moments.
Knowing how my dad was, if he would have never helped this person get out of the wash, he wouldn't have been able to live with that," said Echeverria
"El era amor. Mi esposo era amor. Estaba disponible en la hora que ustedes quisieran," expressed Perez. (translation: "He was love. My husband was love. And he was available whenever you needed him.)
