Luis Enrique Cruz didn’t hesitate for a second.
It was Sunday, two in the afternoon, on 11 Sur Avenue in the San Isidro Castillotla neighborhood of Puebla. A three-year-old girl broke free from her family’s hand and ran straight toward the road. Luis, 34, was working that day at the Súper Rey del Ahorro supermarket, where he has worked for five years. The store’s cameras captured the exact moment when he ran out and reached the girl just before a car hit her. They both fell onto the pavement; he scraped his knees and elbows, while she was unharmed.
When asked why he reacted so quickly, Luis didn’t talk about heroism. He said he thought of his own son, who was about the same age. The next day, with the video already viral, the company’s executives presented him with a public commendation and a bonus of 20 thousand pesos. Sometimes a father’s instinct is enough to save a child who isn’t his own.
