Sammy Valdez

Sammy Valdez was a boyfriend of Hazel Levesque during her childhood.

History
Sammy Valdez lived in New Orleans during the same time as Hazel in the 1940's. As a result of Hazel's mother using cursed stones, kids and adults would tease her. Sammy was Hazel's only friend during this time and took care of her. He also took care of the horses owned by rich families and would, occasionally, sneak Hazel into the stables to help him and let her ride the horses. For her birthday, he took her horseback riding and they set up a picnic where he gave her a cupcake. Unfortunately, Sammy would never see Hazel again as Hazel's mother was persuaded to move to Alaska by Gaea. According to Gaea, Sammy eventually made his way to Texas and started a family, although he never forgot about Hazel. He apparently died in the 1960's from a heart attack.

The Son of Neptune
When Hazel made it back to her old home in Alaska, she found an old photo of Sammy, and Percy thought he had seen him somewhere before. Later, Percy falls into a pit of muskeg and Hazel jumps in after him, but Gaea forces an image into her mind of an ideal future, including a future version of herself getting married - possibly to Sammy. Hazel says that these visions aren't real and with Frank's help, they pull Percy from under the ground. When Leo sends a video message to Camp Jupiter, Hazel mistakes him for Sammy, as the two look almost identical, and Percy remembers how Leo looked a lot like Sammy from the photograph, but tells Hazel that it can't be him, as he would be over 70. According to Gaea, he moved to Texas and married at some point, but later died of a heart attack in the 1960s, having never forgotten about Hazel.

Trivia

 * Leo and Sammy are quite alike:
 * Leo Valdez looks completely identical to Sammy, which hints at a possible genealogical connection.
 * Leo and Sammy share the same surname, Valdez.
 * Leo was born in Texas, and that is where Sammy moved to as an adult.


 * According to Rick Riordan the relationship between Sammy and Leo Valdez will be explained in The Mark of Athena.