"Ordinary people doing extraordinary things": Loved ones honor good Samaritan who died in San Joaquin River rescue
MANTECA — Loved ones and first responders showed up Thursday to support the good Samaritan who jumped into the San Joaquin River to try and save a mother and daughter.
The memorial service for Eddie Gerardo Cervantes Lora was held at Park View Cemetery in Manteca.
CBS13 first spoke with Cervantes Lora 's loved ones one week ago and they said they have been blown away by the support they have received since then.
The GoFundMe already exceeds $70,000 when the initial goal was $40,000.
Cervantes Lora 's boss on the dairy farm, Frank Borges, said they have already found a new job for Cervantes Lora 's wife and she is looking to buy a mobile home for her family.
"It is inspiring to know there are folks out there, people out there to take great personal risk to benefit or help save another," said Chief David Bramell with the Lathrop-Manteca Fire District. "In this circumstance, he certainly didn't have to do what he did."
Cervantes Lora is being remembered by the community as a hero after jumping into the San Joaquin River to try and save a mother and daughter standing on top of their sinking car.
"That is the human spirit in action," Bramell said.
First responders like Bramell are trained to save people, but Cervantes Lora sacrificed his own life for two strangers.
"Ordinary people doing extraordinary things," Bramell said.
Borges said that each agency that responded to the crash that day has been honoring Cervantes Lora in different ways, including giving a check to his family.
"It will never be the same for them, but at least they have that," Borges said.
Reminders of Cervantes Lora were present at his service on Thursday. His beloved horse Condo made an entrance to remember his rider who worked with him every evening.
The mariachi music also brought his loved ones together as some wore white T-shirts with Cervantes Lora 's photo of him riding his horse and text that read in Spanish: "Rest in peace our hero. Always in our heart."
Cervantes Lora was the sole provider for his family and left behind a wife, two teens and a 4-year-old girl. They said he was a hero to them before ever jumping in the water.
This week, officials confirmed that the mother who Cervantes Lora jumped in to try and save died after fighting for her life in the ICU. She has been identified as Melanie Caligiuri.
In a GoFundMe page, her family thanked the good Samaritans like Cervantes Lora who helped bring her and her 5-year-old girl, who did survive, to the shore.