A courageous father of two lost his life after his arm was nearly severed while attempting to rescue his family from the devastating floods in Texas, which have claimed over 50 lives.
Julian Ryan, 27, bled out after sustaining a horrific gash, but his actions helped his wife and kids to escape the surging water.
Julian, who worked as a dishwasher at a restaurant, was asleep in his trailer home with his mother Marilyn, fiancée Christinia, and his two young children, aged six and 13 months, when the floods struck.
Everyone rushed into the couple’s bedroom when they were awoken by water pouring in, Christinia told the New York Times.
It rapidly rose up to waist height and the mattress began to float – so so the kids hastily placed on it.
Christinia told KHOU 11: “It just started pouring in, and we had to fight the door to get it closed to make sure not too much got in.”
With no escape route, Julian looked to the only option: the window.
He punched through the glass, but the broken edges almost cut his arm clean off, Christinia told KHOU, and severed an artery.
As blood poured from Julian’s limb, the other two adults tried calling 911 – but nobody came.
Julian was losing consciousness from blood loss and the water had risen up to their chins.
With his dying words, Julian told his family: “I’m sorry, I’m not going to make it. I love y’all.”
Christinia said the trailer was eventually broken in half by the force of the currents – allowing the rest of the family to escape.
She said: “[Julian] was the best father, and was always such a happy person who was never above helping people, no matter what it cost.
“He died trying to save us.”
A GoFundMe has been set up to support the family after they lost Julian, and it has so far raised almost $30,000.
The statement reads: “Julian sacrificed his life for his family, dying a true hero. Although his family is forever grateful for his bravery, they are heartbroken by their loss.”
Julian’s story is one of tragedy and sacrifice, but there have also emerged some tales of miraculous survival.
Two brave young brothers told of their gutsy escape from a fast-flooding cabin room.
Piers and Ruffin Boyett were asleep in a cabin at Camp La Junta on the bank of the Guadeloupe River when it was hit by a wall of water at 4am on Friday morning.
They awoke to find water rising rapidly around them – and were forced to make a split-second decision.
The plucky pair knew immediately that they had to swim.
Younger brother Piers told KSAT: “The flood started getting bigger.
“We had bunk beds in our cabins and [the water] was going up to the top bunk and we had one choice — and we had to swim out of our cabin.”
Ruffin, the elder one, said: “I had a first-hand view of the flood.
“The cabins were flooding and the walls, they broke down.
“All of the campers in those cabins had to go up on the rafters and wait there until they could swim out.”
The brothers fought through the water to reach another cabin on higher ground.
They waited there until a rescue bus arrived to take them away from the Guadeloupe River and back to safety.
Rescuers are still scouring the devastated landscape in central Texas, but hopes of finding survivors are fast dwindling.
Larry Leitha, Kerr County sheriff, said on Saturday: “We have recovered 43 deceased individuals in Kerr County.
“Among these who are deceased we have 28 adults and 15 children.”
Multiple people lost their lives in other counties, bringing the current confirmed death toll to 50 – though this is sadly expected to rise.
The most desperate search is for a group of school-age girls who went missing from Camp Mystic – a Christian summer camp near the river.
Heartbreaking photos from the wrecked site show sodden mattresses and teddies strewn across dormitories.
On Saturday, Sheriff Leitha said 27 of the children were still missing.
‘Miracle’ survival: Rescued 20 miles downstream
By Patrick Harrington, foreign news reporter
A YOUNG woman was miraculously rescued after being swept 20 miles downriver in the Texas floods.
The 22-year-old was scooped up by fast-moving water from her campsite in Kerr County, Texas by deadly flash floods at 4am, and found clinging to a tree four hours later.
A third of a year’s worth of rain fell in a few hours in the area, creating an “extraordinary disaster”, with an enormous search-and-rescue mission still underway.
A Center Point resident, Carl, heard screaming when he stepped into his yard at around 8am on Friday morning.
He spotted the woman clinging to a huge Cyprus tree near Lion’s Park Dam as the river thundered beneath her.
She had for been holding on for several hours after a terrifying 20-mile journey down dams and dodging debris.
Emergency calls weren’t connecting, so the local resident desperately flagged down a police car for help.
Two rescue boats were scrambled and battled perilous currents to rescue the stranded camper.
By this time, the water level had receded considerably, so the woman was stranded 12ft above the water’s surface.
She was forced to drop into the rescue boat, and was finally brought to safety.
