THE CALIFORNIA DELUGE : Would-Be Rescuers Tell of Desperate Bid to Save Boy

TRABUCO CREEK —  Chris Moore still can’t believe how a day of fun, four-wheel driving turned to Tuesday’s nightmare at Trabuco Creek.

Moore recalled that he saw a father, his son and another man attempt to cross Trabuco Creek on foot, which, although only two to three feet deep, had enough force to knock Moore, a 180-pounder, off his feet.

At first, the father had tried to carry the boy on his back, but they had to turn back because of the force. They tried again, this time after tying a rope around the boy’s waist.

The three lost their balance.

As they foundered, people on the banks formed a human chain and waded into the creek while clinging to a rope suspended over the water. Then it happened. The rope snapped, pitching about a dozen people into the water, Moore said.

Moore’s companion, Clair Olson, 22, said, “People were screaming for them to regain their balance but they couldn’t get their feet down. Then a bunch of men tried to make a human chain from the edges, and then the rope broke from all the weight.”

“It was a damn nightmare, something I’ve never seen in my life,” Olson recalled.

Moore was tossed into the creek and then over a 25-foot spillway with the other would-be rescuers.

Bill Harris, a stock broker from Mission Viejo, jumped in after the boy, who was his neighbor. He was injured as a result. Harris, 25, was airlifted to Mission Hospital Regional Medical Center, where he was in stable condition.

“Everybody thought the dad had a hold of him,” Olson said, “but I saw his dad and he didn’t have him.”

The 11-year-old boy’s body was found about three-quarters of a mile downstream.