8 year old Joshua Garcia being hailed a hero after his amazing efforts help rescue his father...

An 8-year-old Fitchburg boy is being called a hero after police said he climbed out of a car that crashed in the raging Nashua River, scaled a 15-foot sheer stone wall along its banks and ran more than a mile early yesterday to get help for his father, who was trapped in the upside down vehicle.

“It landed on the front and then rolled over onto the roof,” said Fitchburg Police Sgt. Chuck Siomos. “The child passenger managed to climb his way out, ran home and notified mom and his grandparents. The father needed fire department assistance to exit.”

Siomos said the call for help came in at 3:37 a.m. yesterday. He identified the driver as Eugenio Garcia, 30, of Fitchburg.

“He is the hero,” said Eugenio Garcia Sr., 64, of his 8-year-old grandson, Joshua.

Without the 8-year-old’s incredible physical and mental feats, Garcia’s son, Eugenio Garcia Jr., would have died trapped in the Honda Civic, the elder Garcia said in Spanish.

“The truth is, I can’t explain what he did,” Garcia Sr. said of Joshua’s life-saving actions. “It’s something else. If you go to where the accident happened, if you take a picture, you’re left wondering. How did he climb up the wall on the river bank? How did he swim that far? It’s a strong current.”

The boy’s grandfather said neither his grandson nor his son even broke a bone. The elder Garcia said only an act of God could have saved the lives of his son and grandson.

“I’m very thankful of God,” he said. “I’m very emotional.”

The car crashed into the river at the bottom of a long hill where the road turns gently left onto a bridge. Garcia’s car went straight, crashed through a steel guardrail and flew 30 feet into the water.