A Decision That Cost a Lifetime


 
This piece was one of the toughest articles I’ve ever written! It came about from a tragic situation that took place during a horrific flood that hit the Toowoomba city in Queensland,  Australia in 2011.

This story involves a family of two brothers – Blake (10) & Jordan (13) Rice and their Mother (Donna). The mother was innocently driving to a store to buy school uniforms for her children when a massive amount of rain water broke through the central business district of their city and began to flood the area. 

The family car became stuck in the floodwaters and the tide was quickly rising up at warp speed. The mother then made a desperate call to the local emergency services while standing and holding onto her kids from the top of their vehicle. 

As the intense flow of water now went up and over the rooftop, it also swept the family off their feet and out into what would look like a makeshift river. Donna was quickly out of sight and nowhere to be found. She would sadly drown in the flood waters. Her body was recovered soon afterward. Meanwhile, her boys were caught up in two separate trees nearby, each clinging for their safety. 

Two men appeared on the scene and had the boys in their sightlines but the intense flowing water would not allow them to get out to the kids so they pieced together a rope. The length of the rope would not reach both of the kids. Jordan was closest and once he got ahold of the rope, this brave 13-year-old then made the gutsiest decision a human being could ever face … he made a choice to pass the rope to his younger brother instead so that he could have a chance to live!

Minutes after passing the rope, the tree that held Jordan snapped and threw him into the deep waters where he would drown as well. Jordan, who was scared of water, kept yelling to the rescuers to save his younger brother Blake first.

Moments after learning of Jordan’s heroic act, the entire nation of Australia branded the youngster as a hero!

FOR THE ATHLETES: I hope that this story and the quotes to follow will hopefully inspire you to help ‘make a difference’ in your world someday! You are blessed with unique athletic gifts and the power within you to touch and impact the lives of many in the years ahead! Always remember this! 

Jim Loria 

NOTE: Since writing this original piece, a Posthumous Bravery Medal was awarded to Jordan Rice. It was given as part of the 40th Australian Bravery Awards ceremony held in March of 2015. 


MOTIVATIONAL QUOTES RELATING TO THIS STORY 

“The ultimate measure of a person is not where they stand in moments of comfort and convenience, but where they stand in times of challenge and controversy” – stated by Martin Luther King, Jr., a Christian Minister and Activist, who became the most visible spokesperson and leader in the civil rights movement during the 1950's & 60's

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“A life is not important except in the impact it has on other lives” – stated by Jackie Robinson, the first-ever African American to play baseball in the Major Leagues (1947).

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“Try not to become a person of success but a person of value” – stated by Albert Einstein, the German-born theoretical physicist who developed the general theory of relativity.


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