Victor Victorious

October 12th, 2010

The term “loser” is a good one for describing the kind of men we wish we’d never encounter. There are only two kinds of men–good ones and bad ones. No woman ever sets out looking for a bad man, but sometimes a women snags a loser. By my calculations there are still many men worthy of laurels, but there are still too many losers.

There are things of which men never grow tired–you can probably guess the first, the second is winning. Men love winning contests of any sort. They love winning the girl, the job, the argument, the bet, the tournament–whatever. Men’s love of victory transcends sports, helping them succeed in life.

I’d like to award a medal to one of those unassuming guys, who recently won the admiration of thousands. Aptly, named Victor, being layed-off from his job in construction, he was living in Fresno, picking grapes to get by, before the he got the chance to prove he was no loser.

By now, you’ve may have heard the story of Victor Perez, who rescued eight-year-old Elisa Cardenas, after she was abducted from her neighborhood. Victor had heard the story on the nightly news. The following day, he saw a truck in his neighborhood and was convinced it might be the one described in the Amber Alert.

As the media recounted the details of the story, they repeatedly called Perez a “Good Samaritan”.

Seriously? Is that tired term the best the press can come up with to describe this guy?

Had he called 911 and given them the location of the vehicle, he would have been a “Good Samaritan”. If his tip had lead to an arrest or the recovery of the girl he would have been called a hero, but when Victor saw the truck on his street, he didn’t take time to consider the possibilities. He didn’t even take time to grab his shoes, he went after the guy.

As he dashed out of his house, he told his cousin to call 911. He shouted to the driver of the truck, when the other driver wouldn’t stop, he chased him and tried to run him off the road. Victor says, it occurred to him the other driver could have a gun, but once he saw the missing girl in the front seat of the other truck, he was committed to saving her.

Eventually, the abductor pushed Elisa Cardenas out of the car. Victor grabbed her. He reassured the frightened girl, telling her people looking for her and she would be safe now. Just a few minutes after leaving his home, Elisa Cardenas was safe with Victor. She would see her mama again, she would sleep in her own bed again, because Victor had won the race against time and defeated a bad guy.

Later that day, the Fresno police arrested 24-year old Gregorio Gonzales. When Victor Perez made the decision to chase Gonzalez, he had no way of knowing Gonzales was a known member of a Fresno street gang, The Bulldogs, neither did Gonzales know that he had just crossed paths with a badder dog than himself, because in that moment, Victor Perez had become a pit-bull.

When a child becomes a victim, it is the worst thing a parent can imagine. As a father & uncle, Victor understood that. Victor has two sons, if we’re all lucky, they’ll grow up with the same kind of selfless courage and determination as their father showed on the day he saved the life of that little girl. The world has too many deviants who prey on children, but the world can never have too many Victors.

Deb’s Note: On any given day, anyone can be a hero. Add these men to the list of those who deserve our admiration. Last week four regular guys wrestled a .357 Magnum from a deranged gunman and succeeded in halting what could have resulted in more senseless tragedy.

http://web.signonsandiego.com/news/2010/oct/08/carlsbad-police-respond-to-reports-of-shots-at-a-s/