SILVERTON, Colo.—A 19-year-old who was grieving after learning that a college friend had drowned rescued a 5-year-old New Mexico boy who was struggling in a river.
Sean Simpson says he was less than five minutes into his walk after being told the news of his friend’s death when he heard children screaming Saturday along the Animas River.
San Juan County Sheriff Sue Kurtz says the “story would have had a much different ending” if Simpson was not nearby to hear the children’s screams.
James Wilhelm of Aztec, N.M., had been camping with his family near Silverton, about 325 miles southwest of Colorado.
Simpson’s friend, Anna Schneider, drowned in her family’s pool in Chicago Saturday.
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Information from: The Denver Post,
