The Tucson Police Department presented an Everyday Hero Award to a man who saved a child who was thrown into the lanes of Interstate 10 on June 4.
Fernando Ledezma was eastbound on I-10 near the Speedway and Congress exits with his wife and children when he noticed a collision ahead of him. He saw that one of the drivers involved was OK.
As he continued on, he saw the other car off to the side. He said he saw a woman go to the back of the car holding a toddler and then tossed the child into the freeway lanes.
Ledezma stopped his car on the side of the road and ran across traffic to save the child. Ledezma was able to flag down help.
The child was safe after the incident and remains safe, said Detective Beau Wilson of the Tucson Police Department.
“His heroism saved a life that day,” Wilson said. “If he wasn’t there, I’m confident we would be investigating a very different incident.”
With young children of his own, Ledezma said his fatherly instincts kicked in when he saw the child being thrown.
“It was an adrenaline rush,” Ledezma said. “I was dodging cars, and there were a couple of close calls, but my mission was to get to the child to prevent tragedy from happening.”
Ledzma said “tears came out” when he rescued the child. He said he could not understand how someone could do that, but he was grateful the child is OK.
Wilson nominated Ledezma for the award, which was presented to him by Assistant Chief Kevin Hall on Wednesday. Hall said this award is to honor those who save lives or enrich lives in the Tucson community.
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