Drowning Teen Lives, but His Rescuer Dies

A Rancho Mission Viejo worker died Saturday night saving the life of a drowning 16-year-old in a swimming pond in the Santa Ana foothills, according to the Orange County Sheriff’s Department.

Salvadore Uribe, 46, who lived at the ranch on Ortega Highway, was one of several employees who were fishing and swimming at the pond when he saw the teen in distress.

After tearing his shirt off, Uribe dove into the pond and pushed the drowning swimmer to a thicket of reeds, allowing the boy to pull himself from the water.

Uribe never made it to shore however, and witnesses lost sight of him. A dive team recovered Uribe’s body beneath reeds at 10 p.m., roughly four hours after he disappeared, said Sheriff’s Sgt. Phil Griesbach.

“It certainly was an act of heroism on his part, but it cost him his life,” Griesbach said.