Border Patrol Agents Rescue Man Likely Left For Dead In Desert By Smugglers

A Guatemalan man, reportedly trying to enter the United States illegally, was recently rescued by U.S. Border Patrol agents in Texas.

The rescue was made on Jan. 31 by agents during a media tour south of Sanderson, Texas, along the border when an agent just happened to notice the man far off of the roadway.

The man told agents he had been stranded for three days in the desert. Temperatures were in the 10s the night before.

“We saw that he wasn't moving,” said Arain Carrera, U.S. Border Patrol and Protection operations officer. “We saw that he wasn't trying to get away or anything, and that’s when he probably needed assistance rather quickly.”

After becoming disorientated, the man said he fell down a ravine while traveling with a group. He broke his knee after already walking for 10 days prior.

The group left the man stranded in the middle of the desert.

“The ravine was way taller than this building and I passed out,” the man told border patrol agents in an interview. “Thanks to this officer here, thankfully he was there. If not, I would of been dead. Thank god that he came.”

The man was left with several backpacks, eventually finding a lighter to catch nearby vegetation on fire for warmth and as a signal for help.

In western Texas, never underestimate Mother Nature.

“If you decide to come in, you’re in for a hike. It's definitely nothing to take lightly. It’s something that you’re going to have to be prepared to overcome,” said Carrera. “I think that’s one of the things that he probably ever thought. More than likely whoever he paid to get smuggled in, never informed him of.”

The Guatemalan man has since had reconstructive surgery on his knee.

He'll be processed and eventually sent back to his home country, now understanding the dangers of illegally crossing into the United States.