Canaan, 16, heard the mother’s cries from across the street. When he entered the gas station, he used his skills to help save the day.
One of the most terrifying nightmares a parent can have is watching their children being abducted, especially in broad daylight.
One such incident took place at a small grocery store in New Mexico where the suspect shamelessly attempted to kidnap two small children. The whole incident could have ended in heartbreak and tragedy, but luckily for the parent, the attempt was foiled before it could do any damage.
And it wasn’t the cops who stopped the attack.
He was a teenage wrestler who chose to do the right thing when it was needed most.
A mother and her three children were waiting for their Uber just outside Chuck’s gas station. It was then that the mother noticed a suspicious man staring at her and the children. His intentions were quickly revealed when he grabbed one of them by the arm and asked the woman to give him her children.
After struggling with the man, the mother took her children and rushed them into the store at the gas station.
The man was running right after them. Store staff and bystanders quickly came to the woman’s aid. At first, one of the strangers closed the door to prevent the suspect from entering. However, the man made his way inside the store and overpowered the stranger who tried to help him.
The stranger, instead of fighting the suspect, came out of the store and pushed open the door so the man couldn’t get out.
Just across the street, Canaan Bower, a student-athlete, noticed the commotion. At first, he didn’t think much about it until the mother started screaming. Paying closer attention, he knew family and bystanders needed help.
He entered the store and saw that the suspect was trying to break into the storage room where the family was hiding.
Bower grabbed the man and using his wrestling training, he threw the suspect to the ground and pinned him down.
Bauer admitted he was concerned about whether the man was carrying any weapon, such as a knife or a gun. But in addition, he still did not hesitate to put the family out of danger.
Bauer held him until help arrived. Soon the sirens were wailing right outside the store. Cops entered and apprehended the suspect before Bauer pulled away.
The entire ordeal only lasted about five minutes, but for those involved it would have felt like the longest five minutes of their lives.
As for Bower, he was accused of being a hero.
Although he shared that he was not used to the attention he was given, he said what really made him proud was knowing that the family he saved was together and safe.
“When someone needs help, you always have to help them … always be the one doing something,” he told Sun News.
His act might have been simple with his training and athletic prowess, but for the family he helped, it meant the world to them.
