Teenage wrestler pins man at gas station who tried to steal kids
Canaan, who was 16 years old, heard the mom screaming from across the street. When he got to the gas station, he used his skills to help save the day.
One of the scariest nightmares a parent can have is seeing their kids taken away, especially during the day.
In a small grocery store in New Mexico, this happened when the suspect tried to kidnap two small children without any shame. The whole thing could have turned out badly, but luckily for the parent, the plan was stopped before it could do any harm.
And the attack wasn’t stopped by the police.
Teenage wrestler decided to do the right thing when it was most important.
A mother and her three kids were waiting outside Chuck’s Gas Station for their Uber. The mother then saw that a strange man was staring at her and her children. Soon, everyone knew what he was up to when he grabbed one of them by the arm and told the woman to give him her kids.
After fighting with the man, the mother grabbed her kids and ran them into the store at the gas station.
The man was right on their heels. People in the store and outside quickly helped the woman. At first, one of the strangers shut the door so the suspect couldn’t get in. But the man pushed his way in and beat up the stranger who tried to help him.
Instead of fighting the suspect, the stranger went outside and pushed the door shut so the man couldn’t leave.
Right across the street, a student athlete named Canaan Bower heard the noise. He didn’t really think about it until the mother started screaming. When he paid more attention, he saw that the family and the other people needed help.
He went into 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 skills, threw him to the ground and held him there.
Bower said he was worried about the man because he didn’t know if he had any weapons on him, like a gun or a knife. But even so, he didn’t think twice about getting his family out of harm’s way.
Bower held him down until someone else came to help. Soon, sirens started going off right outside the store. Before Bower moved out of the way, the police came in and took the suspect down.
The whole thing took only about five minutes, but those five minutes must have felt like the longest of their lives to the people involved.
The suspect was accused of one count of kidnapping, four counts of battery, two counts of assault, and two counts of child abuse.
Regarding Bower, he was accused of being a hero.
When the news spread, people and athletes came together to show their support. MMA champions Henry Cejudo and Jorge Masvidal, as well as UFC president Dana White, gave him praise. In April of the next year, Bower was named USA Wrestling Athlete of the Week. In their statement, they spoke highly of Bower and the brave thing he did.
Even though he said he wasn’t used to all the attention, he said that what made him really proud was knowing that the family he saved was safe and together.
He told Sun News, “When someone needs help you should always help them … always be the one to do something about it.”
With his training and athletic skills, he may have done something simple, but for the family he helped, it meant the world.