Local boy saves great-grandmother

Posted: Friday, December 14, 2012 12:00 am | Updated: 7:26 pm, Thu Dec 13, 2012.
By JON E. STERN TODAY'S NEWS-HERALD

Often a hero is described as an ordinary individual that does something extraordinary at any given time. Many times heroes are of military origin, thrust to heroic status not by choice, but for survival. A hero acts without thought of self-preservation. Their act is for a greater good; whether it’s landing an airplane safely on the Hudson River, or being an 8-year-old boy saving his great-grandmother’s life.

Deegan Cordova, a second-grade student at Telesis Preparatory Academy in Lake Havasu City is an 8-year-old hero — this is the first part of the story.

“We were at the store and my nana said she was sweating and that she didn’t feel good,” Deegan said timidly. “When we were in the car, she told me her arm went numb.”

Deegan was frightened. He was afraid nana’s other arm would go numb, too and they might crash, but Deegan and his great-grandmother made it home safe.

“He saw that I wasn’t feeling well and told me to go sit down and he would unload the rest of the car,” said Linda Milligan, Deegan’s great-grandmother.
Deegan unloaded the groceries so his nana could sit down and relax — nana’s face started to go numb.

“She looked like she was going to sleep,” Deegan said, “so I kept tapping her arm — she told me to stop and that she was tired.”

Milligan told her great-grandson to get her Life Alert necklace, and Deegan pushed the button.

“I told them that my nana’s arm and face where numb and that her chest was hurting,” Deegan said. Life Alert sent an ambulance.

“He kept tapping me and hitting me to tell me to stay awake,” Milligan said.
As Deegan waited for the ambulance, he also called a relative, who was visiting from Riverside, Calif., to come to the house to help.

The ambulance finally arrived, and as it began to leave with his nana, and the young boy started running after her. One of Milligan’s neighbors stopped him.
The apple doesn’t fall far from the tree.

Deegan stays with his great-grandmother while his father is at work — his dad works from 8 p.m. to 4 a.m. The boy’s mother lives in Kingman; no grandmother, aunts or uncles, just a great-grandmother, a grandson, and his son, Deegan, the great-grandson.

Deegan’s father takes him to school every morning and picks him up, sleeping whenever he can. He also shares a vehicle with his great-grandmother and is hopeful that this year’s tax return will afford him the ability to buy a used vehicle.
“My grandson’s life is dedicated to Deegan,” Milligan said. “Deegan comes first with everything to a fault that I don’t know the last time my grandson bought any clothes for himself.”

Milligan said between her fixed income and her grandson’s income, things are difficult. “My grandson refuses to seek help from any state agency,” Milligan stated. “He is a proud man and accepts that Deegan is his responsibility and no other’s.”

Deegan’s favorite subject is math and he hopes to become a professional baseball player.

“I like math because it is a challenge,” Deegan said.
“He likes anything that is a challenge,” Milligan said. “He loves building Legos — he is working on creating a carnival.”

During the time Deegan spends with his great-grandmother, he is always there to lend a helping hand at her retirement facility.

“He cleans up dog poop for those residents who are in wheelchairs,” Milligan said. “He empties trash, sweeps up the rocks; he just helps anyone who needs it.”

Milligan said Deegan doesn’t wait for people to ask him for help, he goes looking to help others.

The good news is the doctors don’t believe that Milligan had a heart attack. “I am still going through a battery of tests,” she said, “but we are hopefully to get some answers soon.”

You may contact this reporter at jstern@havasunews.com