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A mother’s love knows no boundaries.
That was especially true on May 9 when Brenda Duran jumped into the San Joaquin River in central California to rescue her drowning daughter.
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The mom watched her children playing in the water of a popular beach, but when her 11-year-old daughter could not keep her head above water, Duran rushed into the river, according to the Stanislaus County Sheriff’s Office.
As she sought to save her daughter, Duran “struggled to stay afloat,” the sheriff’s office said, and the river’s current swallowed the mom.
AMERICANS, INCLUDING SOUTH CAROLINA COUPLE, STRANDED BY NORWEGIAN CRUISE SAVE ELDERLY PASSENGER, FAMILY SAYS: SHIP ‘LEFT HER TO DIE’
Brenda Duran, 30, died saving her 11-year-old daughter who was drowning.(GoFundMe)
Her son, 14, saw his mom in trouble and jumped back into the river to try to grab her, but he could not get to her in time, according to the Stanislaus County Sheriff’s Office.
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That was around 6:30 p.m. on May 9. First responders, including rescue dive teams, spent hours in the water, but “visibility and safety” concerns forced the search to be paused around 11 p.m., police said.
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Duran’s body was recovered around 5:30 p.m. on May 11 outside Newman, California. She was just 30 years old.
“Brenda’s husband describes her as a ‘very thriving person, always smiling, never giving up and very compassionate,’” Yadira Herrera wrote on a GoFundMe post on behalf of Duran’s family.
“Brenda, a young mother full of love and laughter, leaves behind her three children, her husband and her extended family that will forever hold her in her heart.”
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First responders from all over the area around San Joaquin River tried to find and save Brenda Duran.(Stanislaus County Sheriff’s Office)
The Stanislaus County Sheriff’s Office said an autopsy will be conducted later this week to establish an official cause of death.
“We extend our deepest condolences to the family and friends of Brenda Duran during this time,” the sheriff’s office said.
The 366-mile San Joaquin River starts in Yosemite and Kings Canyon National Parks and runs through the San Joaquin Valley south of Sacramento.
San Joaquin River in central California is a popular beach spot.(Google Street view)
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The river is known for its teeming wildlife, economy-fueled tourism that includes paddling, swimming and fishing, and hydroelectric power.
This week marks Rare Disease Week, a time when families across the country are sharing their struggles with access to treatments and clinical trials, and their hopes for change, with lawmakers and federal health officials. A Colorado family is now adding its voice to the chorus after a clinical trial their son relied on suddenly ended.
A boy was killed after being struck by a vehicle today in Hawaii Kai, police said.
At about 11:02 a.m., a 37-year-old woman “was attempting to travel northbound” on Kukuau Place when the vehicle hit a boy who was in the road in front of the vehicle, according to a Honolulu Police Department’s Traffic Division news release. The child was taken to a hospital in critical conition where he was pronounced dead.
The driver remained at the scene and was uninjured, police said.
HPD did not release the boy’s age or say whether speed, drugs or alcohol were possible factors in the collision.
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This was Oahu’s ninth fatality in 2026, compared with 15 at the same time last year.
