The river kept moving. When 14-year-old Jory Thomas heard someone calling for help, he had only a moment to decide what he could do. His story is about the kind of courage that begins when someone chooses to step in.
CHAPTERS: 00:30 The Family’s Day Out 01:15 A Call Across the Water 02:15 The Choice to Step In 03:00 Looking Back
Four people were thrown into Montana's Yellowstone River,
three reached shore, the fourth was
swept downstream clinging to a cooler,
and the only person chasing him was 14.
Hey, it's John back with Awesome.
What matters isn't just the unusual tool this boy brought,
it's what he knew to do when a stranger needed him.
And there's something his grandmother remembers
that I can't get out of my head.
Jory Thomas was visiting family near Greycliff, Montana.
A raft and paddleboard had struck bridge support,
throwing four people into the water.
Jory heard people calling for help,
three were getting clear, but one man, gripping
a cooler, kept drifting downstream.
Unlike the others, the man wasn't calling out.
Here's the danger with a current like that.
You can be only a short distance from the bank
and still have almost no control over
where you're going.
Jory couldn't make the river stop.
He had to move before the man disappeared farther downstream.
And what had Jory bought that day?
A cowboy's lariat.
His grandmother, Sandy, said he'd visited that campsite many times
and had never brought it before.
But on that particular day, he did.
But please don't mistake what happened next for a lucky guess.
Jory grew up on a ranch.
For about a year, he'd been practicing his throws,
even using a homemade cattle head target.
I love that detail.
Practice can seem ordinary, even boring,
until one day your hands know what
to do before you've had time to second-guess yourself.
Now that ranch skill was facing a test
no practice dummy could prepare him for.
Jory's father called 911. Jory ran along the bank,
got into the water and worked to get within reach of the drifting man.
Think about the pressure, a moving target, swift water,
a drifting stranger and a 14-year-old boy holding
a rope he'd only ever expected to use around cattle.
He swung the loop and let it fly.
It caught the man on the very first throw, around his head and arm.
But catching him wasn't the same as saving him.
The current was still pulling.
Now Jory had to bring an adult back
to shore without being swept away himself.
Jory secured the rope to his belt
and moved backward through water that reached his chest.
Slowly the man came toward the bank, and then, finally, he was out.
First responders arrived about ten minutes after Jory's father called.
By then, the immediate danger had passed.
Nobody from the accident was seriously hurt.
I want to be clear, entering swift water like this is dangerous.
Jory's actions worked, but this isn't something
to imitate instead of calling trained rescuers.
When Jory returned to his family, his mother recalled him, saying,
I think I just saved somebody. I find that so touching.
Even he seemed to be taking in what he'd done.
The sheriff later said rescuers might otherwise have
been searching for a body.
Jory received a local certificate
and Montana's senator recognized him too.
But the part that stays with me isn't the award.
His family said Jory is the kind of kid
who helps other people carry groceries without being asked.
The lasso was unusual.
The wanting to help wasn't.
If that kind of courage deserves more attention,
give this story a like for Jory.
And subscribe to Awesome if you want more stories about people
who make a real difference.
He thought he was practicing for life on the ranch.
That summer day, a stranger got to go home
because he was ready to help.
