Bentonville woman dies after trying to save boy

A NEBCO Fire Department truck is shown in this 2017 file photo.
A NEBCO Fire Department truck is shown in this 2017 file photo.

BENTONVILLE -- The woman who attempted to save an 11-year-old boy swept into a storm drain died Saturday.

The boy, Alexander "Cade" Law, died Aug. 29 after being pulled into the storm drain and through 675 feet of underground pipe, according to a Bentonville Fire Department official.

Tanya "Tawny" Hinton, 47, tried to save Cade. She was pulled into the drainage system as well. Emergency responders found her and transported her to a local hospital.

Chrissy Law, Cade's mother, posted on her Facebook page that Hinton died Saturday.

"They say angels are all around us," Law said in her post. "This is definitely the case with Tawny. She LOVED my boys! She jumped in that sewer drain without hesitation to try to save Cade. She gave her life to try to save him."

Law described Hinton as a true hero and urged people to support Hinton's husband and her two sons.

A fundraiser on PayPal for Hinton's family had raised $15,832 as of Tuesday morning.

The city received heavy rain Aug. 29 leading up to the incident. Cade and his twin brother were playing in the rainwater with their best friend. Hinton, the friend's mother, was also on the scene, according to a previous Facebook post by Law.

The Fire Department was sent at 5:36 p.m. on a call a boy was in a detention pond near the Walton Crossing Apartments, north of Southeast 28th Street. Crews rushing to the scene were notified a woman also had been swept away, Deputy Fire Chief Kevin Boydston said.

Hinton was dragged 20 yards through the drainage system after entering the pipe. Manhole covers were pulled and she was found near the first manhole opening, Boydston said. Hinton was found eight minutes after the Fire Department arrived on the scene, and Cade was found about 20 minutes after help arrived, Boydston said.


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