• Christopher Alvelo, 17, grabbed the steering wheel and narrowly avoided a jet fuel tanker truck after his step-father passed out while driving
  • Alvelo died but the other three people in the SUV survived
  • He was returning home from work on final service project he needed to achieve rank of Eagle Scout

By Michael Zennie

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A Philadelphia teenager has died in a car crash on his way home from his final project to become an Eagle Scout - but not before he saved four lives.

When Christopher Alvelo's step-father blacked out while driving Saturday, he unbuckled his seat belt and grabbed the wheel, steering the SUV clear of a tanker truck full of jet fuel it was about to hit.

The 17-year-old's actions saved the lives of his step-father, the two other Boy Scouts in the back of the SUV and the driver of the fuel truck, his family says. 

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Bright future: Christopher Alvelo, 17, wanted to join the Air Force after high school and had just completed his final project to become an Eagle Scout

Bright future: Christopher Alvelo, 17, wanted to join the Air Force after high school and had just completed his final project to become an Eagle Scout

This is the mangled Ford SUV that Alvelo was riding in when he took the wheel and steered it away from a fuel truck

This is the mangled Ford SUV that Alvelo was riding in when he took the wheel and steered it away from a fuel truck

Hard work: Alvelo is seen here working at the park that was his final service project before he became an Eagle Scout

Hard work: Alvelo is seen here working at the park that was his final service project before he became an Eagle Scout

Because he wasn't wearing a seat belt, he was killed on impact after the SUV smashed into a hanger at the Northeast Philadelphia Airport.

Alvelo was a beloved student at New Foundations Charter School in Philadelphia with a promising future ahead of him. He planned to join the Air Force after he graduated this spring.

And no one was surprised he used his final moments on Earth to save lives.

'That's Chris. That's all I can say, that's Chris. He saved lives and he was a hero,' his aunt Susie Formeski told WCAU-TV.


Alvelo's principal said he was the kind of boy who parents wished could be their son or date their daughter

Alvelo's principal said he was the kind of boy who parents wished could be their son or date their daughter

Joseph Snyder, Alvelo's step-father, blacked out while driving home

Joseph Snyder, Alvelo's step-father, blacked out while driving home

Alvelo's step-father Joseph Snyder, 51, was taken to the hospital in critical condition, but is expected to survive. The two other Scouts were treated for minor injuries.

Foremski told the Philadelphia Inquirer that Snyder was driving Alvelo and two other Scouts home from a morning of cleaning up a city park.

It was the last project Alvelo needed to complete before he could be promoted to Eagle Scout - the highest rank in scouting.

It was an achievement was the result of years of hard work and dedication to the Boy Scouts. 

And it was just another outstanding aspect of Alevelo's short life, his friends and family say.

'He was a gentleman's gentleman. If you have a son, you wanted him to be your son, and if you had a daughter, you wanted him to date your daughter,' his principal Bill Schilling said.


The comments below have been moderated in advance.

so, so sad! rest in peace. definitely a hero!

Tragic. Rest in peace, know by giving up your life, you've saved others.

Wow. He moved quickly to action without hesitation. Truely inspiring and humbling story.

THAT IS A VERY SAD STORY. LOVELY BRAVE YOUNG MAN DIED A SELFLESS HERO. REST IN PEACE. XXXX

Can you say Hero?

Brave young man. RIP.

John 15:13 13 No one has greater love than this, to lay down ones life for ones friends. Amen!

really sad.....

So tragic! Rest In Peace Christopher.

The good tragically often die young, RIP kid, the world is a poorer place without you!

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