Chumba Has Saved 7 Lives — but Risks His Own Every Day Navigating the Highway in a Vintage Wheelchair”

It’s late June, 2020 and I’m slowly making my way to El Paso. Walking to my truck after lunch in tiny Van Horn, Texas, I spot a man pushing himself backwards in his wheelchair across a 4-lane road. He’s carrying an 8-foot staff and his little dog shadows him — literally staying in the wheelchair’s shadow to avoid the 102 degree heat. The man introduces himself as Chumba and tells me that in his life he has saved seven people from rattlesnakes, gunshots and more. A semi flies by just feet from where we stand, but Chumba doesn’t flinch. He’s on his way to the Parrish House to drop off some homegrown oranges — it’s a full day. No mask, no worries. The orange he gives me is pretty dry.