Sheriff’s Deputy Reunites With Teen He Saved From Fiery Car Wreck 12 Years Ago, Gives Him His Medal of Valor

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A former California sheriff’s deputy has credited “higher powers” for an unexpected reunion with a teen whom he saved from a fiery car wreck 12 years earlier.

On Jan. 19, 2007, Sonoma County Sheriff’s then-deputy Christopher Thorp witnessed the aftermath of a tragic car crash on Highway 101, south of Windsor, as per KTVU. A speeding vehicle collided with a Honda Civic sedan, in which 4-year-old Christian Flores was riding with his mother, his older brother, and another couple.

Tragically, Flores was the only survivor.

The little boy was thrown far enough from his seat that his head and torso were accessible to rescuers, yet he was trapped. Thorp, the first member of emergency services personnel to reach the little boy, managed to pull him free with the aid of additional passersby.

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Yet, Flores sustained third-degree burns over 90 percent of his body and lost his right arm and leg. Devastatingly, he also lost his entire family in the accident; Flores’s mother was pulled from the car and taken to hospital, but she later died.

As per The Press Democrat, Flores was flown by helicopter to UC Davis Medical Center in Sacramento to be treated for his burns and injuries.

Thorp, who happened to be off duty at the time of the crash, recalled the night of Flores’s rescue to KTVU. “Lieutenant Rochester, Sergeant Thompson, and I, along with a group of men who stepped up in a time of absolute chaos, did everything we could,” he said.

“There are no words for the elation for Christian,” Thorp continued, “or the sorrow that, despite all our efforts, we could not save his family from the wreckage.”

As fate would have it, it was not to be the last time that Thorp would interact with the sole survivor of this tragic traffic accident. On March 4, 2019, the now-retired deputy was driving into a Sonoma County Les Schwab Tire Center when he noticed a familiar face in the parking lot, one whom he hadn’t seen in over 12 years.

Thorp was so moved by the ensuing encounter that he later told his story in a social media post. “Sometimes it’s hard not to believe in higher powers,” Thorp began, writing on Facebook. “Right now, is one of those moments.”

Thorp described his thought process as he tried to place the familiar face. “I wonder if that is him?” he pondered. “Everything about it seemed right. The age, the injuries, the scars.”

“I hadn’t seen him in nearly 13 years,” Thorp continued. “He was 4 years old then, but everything seemed to fit.”

Thorp approached the teen with trepidation, not sure how to break the ice. He quickly decided to take the direct approach by asking “Is your name Christian?” The teen replied that it was.

“I’m not sure how he felt,” Thorp admitted, “and I’m not sure how I felt, but it was surreal.” The crash of 2007, Thorp concluded, had impacted both his and Flores’s lives in immeasurable ways.

Speaking to the teen, the retired deputy soon realized that Flores had achieved incredible things in his life despite his physical limitations. Thorp called him “a serious warrior.”

Wishing to honor the serendipitous chance encounter, Thorp went to the glove compartment of his jeep and retrieved his Gold Medal of Valor, which he had been awarded back in 2007 for Flores’s rescue, and bequeathed it to the now-young man, saying that he had endured so much and deserved it far more than anybody else. Thorp had been, he reckoned, “merely its keeper.”

“If it weren’t for [Thorp], I wouldn’t be here,” said the teen. As per ABC 30, Flores planned to give Thorp’s Gold Medal of Valor pride of place beneath a photograph of his older brother, the same brother whom he had lost in the car crash.

After Thorp and Flores’s reunion was shared on social media, many people left messages marveling at the retired deputy and teen survivor’s story. “Divine appointment! God has used this boy twice to get your attention,” wrote one Facebook user. “Only God can take something from the ashes ... and create someone new.”

“That is an amazing, selfless story,” wrote another. “I love that you gave your medal to the boy who has been through so much.”

Thorp says he has found peace after the chance encounter with Flores, a full 12 years after their first meeting under devastating circumstances. “A part of me has come home,” he reflected, posting on Facebook, “and at the same moment a huge weight has been lifted from my heart.”