I don’t know if you’ve seen this story out of Queensland, Australia, but it’s about a 13-year-old hero named Jordan Rice. With flood waters about to wash them away, Jordan was stuck in a car with his mother and 10-year-old brother:
Warren McErlean, a passerby who tried desperately to save the family when their white Mercedes began to flood Monday, said he was in awe of Jordan’s courage but devastated that he could not rescue the boy or his mother. In an emotional interview, McErlean said he and two others who stopped to help the family were using rope to pull 43-year-old Donna Rice and her two sons to safety when Jordan told them to save his brother and mother first.
The little brother was rescued and although Jordan begged them to save his mother next, the men could not get to her in time. She and Jordan were swept away and drowned. Jordan’s sacrifice is all the more impressive because, according to his father, he was terrified of water and couldn’t swim.
Orthodox. Faithful. Free.
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It’s a heartbreaking story, and yet a beautiful example of heroic love and sacrifice. May Jordan and his mother rest in peace.