A Texas father of two, Julian Ryan, is being hailed as a hero after sacrificing his life amid the Texas Hill Country floods to save his family. Reportedly, Ryan almost lost his arm to carry out his selfless sacrifice.
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As reported by The New York Times, Ryan, 27, was asleep inside his trailer home in Ingram, Texas, when Guadalupe River waters rose suddenly, flooding the area.
As a result, Ryan woke up alongside his fiancée, Christinia Wilson, with water up to their ankles. His mother, Marilyn Ryan, and his sons, a 6-year-old boy and a 13-month-old toddler, were also inside the home.
The water rose minute by minute, and all the people inside the trailer home started to panic.
“It just started pouring in, and we had to fight the door to get it closed to make sure not too much got in,” Wilson told KHOU. “We went back to the room and started calling 911.”
Sacrifice
With the water up to their waists, and the family trapped inside a bedroom, Ryan instinctively began punching a window. However, the sharp glass severely hurt his arm, cutting it open.
“It severed his artery in his arm and almost cut it clean off,” Wilson said.
Ryan’s bleeding wasn’t stopping, and his family continuously called 911, to no avail. Eventually, the father of two knew it was already too late.
“By 6 (a.m.), he looked at me and the kids and my mother-in-law and said, ‘I’m sorry, I’m not going to make it. I love y’all,'” Wilson added.
In the end, everyone except for Julian Ryan survived the flooding. As a result of the flooding, the trailer home was split in half, which allowed the family to flee.
Now, Ryan’s family will forever remember him as what he was: a hero.
“He died a hero, and that will never go unnoticed,” Connie Salas, Ryan’s sister, told KHOU.
A GoFundMe was set up to help Ryan’s family through this extremely difficult time.
“He touched countless lives with his humor and will be deeply missed by everyone who had the privilege of knowing him,” the fundraiser reads.
According to Texas officials, at least 70 people have died as a result of the Kerr County floods in Texas. Specifically, 21 victims are children, some of them girls attending Camp Mystic, which was flooded by the Guadalupe River waters.