Man who died helping mother, daughter from San Joaquin River identified

VERNALIS, Calif. —San Joaquin County officials identified the man who disappeared while helping rescue a mother and her 5-year-old daughter from a river as 41-year-old Eddie Gerardo Cervantes Lora of Manteca.

The woman was driving a GMC northbound on Airport Way south of the San Joaquin River Bridge on Tuesday just before 1:30 p.m. when, for unknown reasons, she steered the SUV to the right down an embankment and hit a tree, releases from both the city of Tracy and the California Highway Patrol Tracy division said. The car then went into the river.

The driver stood near the vehicle’s rear hatch as it started to submerge, CHP said.

Several bystanders first worked to rescue the child, who was being held in the woman’s arms, officials with the San Joaquin County Fire Authority said on Wednesday.

The woman then disappeared into the water. The bystanders proceeded to rescue the woman, though she lost consciousness.

Officials with the South San Joaquin County Fire Authority and Manteca District Ambulance were able to revive her and took her and the child to a hospital.

But one of the people who had been searching for the woman did not return to the surface, officials said.

The San Joaquin County Office of the Medical Examiner confirmed the man as Cervantes Lora.

Read More
https://www.kcra.com/article/body-recovered-in-search-for-good-samaritan-who-helped-in-san-joaquin-river-rescue/45512454