Royal Cothrun was riding his bike near his home in Gilbert, Arizona, when he noticed a woman struggling to walk. It was over 100 degrees outside, and her face was bright red.
Royal, 14, pulled over.
“I knew it was a serious situation,” he said.
He asked the woman — who was carrying a large shopping bag — where she was headed. She said she was trying to get home to her apartment but wasn’t sure where it was. Royal checked his phone, and the closest apartment was about three miles away.
He walked with her into the shade. As they talked, her words became harder to follow.
“The more I started talking to her, the more jumbled her words got,” he said. “She kept saying ‘It’s hot’ and ‘Help me.’ She kept mumbling and falling over.”
The woman seemed afraid, Royal said. Her phone was stuck in her purse, as the zipper was jammed.
“I used all my strength to try to open it, and I couldn’t,” Royal said. “I could tell she was panicking a bit.”
It was also clear she was overheating.
“I didn’t know if she was going to pass out or what was going to happen,” Royal said.
Then the woman said she remembered her son’s phone number, and Royal called him. Jeff Morgan answered and right away rushed over to the scene that day, June 7. While they waited for him to arrive, the woman fell and scraped her arm. Royal tried to help her up, he said, but she refused.
“She wouldn’t get up, she just said the rocks were cold and she didn’t feel dizzy when she was laying down,” Royal said.
Morgan arrived and called paramedics, who showed up shortly thereafter. Royal said he waited until the woman left in her son’s car — about an hour and a half after he first stopped to help.
Morgan said he was stunned by the teen’s actions and grateful that he didn’t keep riding his bike when he saw someone in need.
“It’s just a miracle that she encountered somebody so selfless and caring,” he said. “It was just really remarkable to me that he stayed with her like she was his family member.”
Morgan’s mother, Theresa, turned 76 in July and was diagnosed with dementia last year, he said. She had gone to a nearby grocery store that day and became lost on the way home.
“She had not done anything like that in the past ever,” he said, noting that his mother no longer goes out on her own and now lives with her youngest son. “We love her dearly, and we are making sure that this type of thing doesn’t happen again.”
Gilbert Fire Chief Rob Duggan said the day could easily have ended differently.
“She had already been out for a decent amount of time, and it wouldn’t have taken much longer for her to lose her ability to walk,” he said. “Confusion worsens in the heat.”
What struck him, he said, was how quickly Royal understood the danger she was in.
“He was acutely aware that she was in trouble,” he said. “His level of discernment to recognize that is pretty impressive given his age.”
At a Gilbert City Council meeting on Aug. 11, Duggan and Vice Mayor Chuck Bongiovanni presented Royal with a key to the city, a lifesaving award and a rescue department hat. The award was first reported by Gilbert Sun News.
“He’s a great kid,” Bongiovanni said. “We were proud to do that.”
Both officials said the story sends a broader message.
“Gilbert is like many other communities, where a lot of times our teenagers get some bad press for their actions,” Duggan said. “This is a great example of what I think of the majority of our teenagers. … There are a bunch of great teenagers out there doing really kind things, and we need to celebrate that.”
Morgan agreed.
“Royal is an example for us all,” he said. “He’s our hero.”
Royal said he didn’t expect any recognition.
“I honestly just thought she was in need, so I helped her,” he said.
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