The past does not define you. Surely, we all made mistakes, but learning from them matters most, and one inmate from Kentucky proved that people deserve second chances.
Marco Sanchez, a Graves County inmate, was working in the Mayfield candle factory when a tornado hit the area last December. It was a night Sanchez will never forget.
Everything happened so fast; the next thing he knew, he was trapped in the rubble. Despite Sanchez suffering from a broken leg and cracked ribs, he still manages to search for an exit.
“I was sitting on top of the building thinking, ‘what do I do?’ I was by myself. No one was around. It was dark. No responses. No people were around,” he said.
Not sure whether he was alive or not, but upon realizing that he was indeed alive, Sanchez looked for anyone that might need his help.
“There was a girl there trapped, and she was crying, ‘help me, I’m trapped.’ She didn’t know I was there. Every decision i made at that moment, I don’t have experience on rescuing or anything. I just used common sense,” he said.
Sanchez received treatment for his injuries at a hospital. Once he was released, he immediately told a state trooper that he was an inmate and needed to be taken into custody. The trooper that time informed him that he wasn’t able to at the moment, and the tornado had also destroyed the jail.
Without second thoughts, Sanchez rode a shuttle bus on his way to a shelter where a jail staff would meet him to bring him back in custody.
It was found out that Sanchez only had 14 days left to serve, but he chose to complete his time. In an instant, his story went viral. Sanchez mentioned that he left his family 15 years ago and hasn’t seen any of them since. Because of the story, Sanchez’s sister was able to reconnect with him and talk to him through zoom.
“We hope someone will take a chance on him and give him an opportunity to start a new life,” the Grave County’s sheriff wrote. “He is a hard worker, as he has been assisting county government in moving offices since the tornado, and he is a very humble man. We wish him the best and applaud him for his sense of humanity.”
Please watch below the awesome story of Marco Sanchez. May his story be a reminder to us that people change and sinners deserve forgiveness and second chances.