ARMY VETERAN SUCCESSFULLY SAVES HIS LITTLE GIRL FROM DROWNING BUT COULDN’T FORESEE THE RESULT OF HIS ACTION

 

The words of wisdom go with this story are: “Bad things happen with good people.” He was a gentleman, a braveheart, a pure soul, and yet here we are, writing about what took place on one unfortunate day.

Angelia Herrera planned a picnic with her family, nothing sounds bad about it so far, right? She was unaware of the fact that this day will be changing her life as well as her kid’s lives forever. It was going to be one of those days that can haunt one for an entire lifetime.

A Day On The Lake

Taking out time for family sometimes can be a tricky thing but it is a necessity for everyone. That day seemed a good one for all of them to get along Angelia Herrera was packing a bag of food and other things she might need on the beach. It was supposed to be a family day, with her fiance, Brandyn Mitchell.

Better Together

Angelia and Brandyn met a few years back were together ever since. This wasn’t their first serious relationship though. Both had kids from their ex-partners but together they finally felt like the broken pieces of their hearts can be fixed. Before they met each other, their life used to revolve around their children with not even a single moment to relax. Despite their hectic schedule Angelia and Brandyn lifted each other out of loneliness. 

Park Next Door

Luckily, they lived minutes away from Ray Roberts Lake State Park. It is like the perfect place where a family can enjoy more than one fun activities including boating, fishing, swimming, sunbathing, volleyball and even more. The kids were excited as it was after so long that the whole family was heading out together. Usually, they all head out together as a family for parent-teacher meetings, which, of course, most of the kids don’t like. 

A Reason To Celebrate

Angelia, Brandyn, and the kids were going to meet some good friends and relatives at the beach. It wasn’t just an ordinary picnic rather they had one big reason to celebrate. And what can be better than a day out with the people you love the most to celebrate? Even when there were so many people there, nobody was able to stop the worst from happening.

Soon To Be Married

Angelia and Brandyn recently decided to take their relationship to the next level. And this decision was one big news for their relatives. After all, ever since they started dating everyone wanted them to get married. And now that they finally made the decision everyone was excited to know the date that they have finalized for the big day.

Making It Official

“We were to be married next year. It was a surprise to our family we had not yet revealed,” recalled Angelia. This was huge, although they have been living together from quite a time. It was their way to see if their kids can get along together or not. As everyone loved to stay with each other, the couple decided to make it official.

A Beautiful Family

The family included Angelia’s daughter, Keira, Brandyn’s kids, Paris and Trenton, and their one-year-old son, Bryson. Everyone was close to each other but Brandyn always shared a special bond with Keira. He treated her no less of a little princess and was always up to fulfill all her wishes. 

A Close Bond

Keira was the less talkative one in the group and more observant. Brandyn took this as his responsibility to build a good trusting relationship with the little girl. He regularly spent time with her and made sure that she wasn’t having any trouble. Brandyn knew Keira much before he met her mother as he was the coach of the neighborhood basketball team.

A Hero In Father

Although Angelia and Brandyn were living together from a couple of years only Keira wholeheartedly accepted him as her father. He was a hero to her. Brandyn will soon prove his daughter’s views about him were right and indeed he was a hero. All her wishes were fulfilled once Brandyn got to know of it and that day too she put one such wish in front of her father. 

Teeny-Tiny Wish

It seemed like one teeny-tiny wish, a wish to go swimming with her Dad. She insisted on it even though she didn’t know how to swim. Also, Angelia didn’t want Brandyn to listen to all her wishes plus they needed to be with the other family members too. Somehow the daughter-father duo managed to convince Angelia.

Time To Swim

On May 19th when the rest of the family started with games and more on the lakeside, Keira and Brandyn headed towards the lake. They brought a big floating device that’ll keep Keira safe. Angelia knew there’s nothing to worry about as Keira was with Brandyn and hence she too got busy with her friends, kids, and relatives.

Wanting To Save Lives

Brandyn, the 25 years old was a war veteran. He joined the armed forces right after graduating from high school.  He joined the Tennessee Army National Guard and retired after completing six years of services. That’s when he moved to Texas and met Keira as a coach and later Angelia. Brandyn was always up for helping people and even after retiring he wanted to serve people. 

Becoming A Firefighter

Becoming a firefighter was Brandyn’s dream and hence he was preparing to enroll in a reputed college to complete his studies. “He wanted to be a firefighter because he wanted to save lives. Running in when everyone is running out,” recalled Angelia. No one ever thought that he’ll put those instincts to use on that family picnic day.

Trouble Holding On

Keira and Brandyn lost track of their distance from the shore and reached in the middle of the lake. Keira was happy and that’s all Brandyn wanted; to see the little girl smile. But it didn’t take long for the happy moments to get over. It all started when Keira had trouble in holding on to the floating device…

Slipped

In an effort of adjusting properly on the floating device, Keira fell off it. Brandyn immediately tried to grab the little girl’s hand but missed. The more Brandyn tried to get her back on the boat, the more she slid away. She didn’t know how to swim and the army vet couldn’t see his girl drowning and knew that he has to jump.

Getting In Water

Brandyn asked her to hold on and jumped in the water. He tried to push her upwards so that she can climb back on the floating device. What seemed like an easy task was going to be the most challenging thing to be done. Within a few minutes, the whole scene turned from normal to out of control…

Pushing Upwards

Keira started to panic and this made it difficult for Brandyn to get a hold on the little girl and get her back on the floating device. This was the first time something like this happened and she wasn’t even expecting anything like this to take place. Brandyn tried to calm her by shouting to her that everything will be okay. Sadly, that’s not how things were going to turn out to be; okay.

A Horrible Scene

“It’s going to be ok. He’s a great swimmer,” Angelia recalled telling herself. Angelia noticed what was going on from the beach but thought everything was under control. She could see Brandyn helping Keira to get back on the boat. While she was quite certain that everything will be alright, in the middle of the lake the reality was that every moment was bringing them close to death. 

The Real Scene

While Brandyn successfully got Keira back on the floating boat, he himself got tired after making all the efforts for saving her. He told Keira to stay there and tried to get back on the floating device. As he was extremely exhausted, it became almost impossible for him to get back on. So, he told Keira that he’ll stay right there with her.

A Bad Day

Even though Brandyn was a great swimmer, that day things weren’t in his favor. It took a few minutes for the little girl to get a hold on herself. And get her breath to normal. When she looked around Brandyn was nowhere to be found… “Where did he go? Did he leave her alone in the middle of the lake?” Keira dismissed thoughts like this.

Having Trouble In The Lake

And when Angelia couldn’t locate Brandyn anywhere she ran to ask her friends to locate him. None of them could see him. Everyone knew how good swimmer he was but no one knew how bad the actual scene was at that moment. Without delaying any further, they immediately called for help.

Utter Disbelief And Sadness

They called the emergency services and it within next 15 minutes the Lewisville Fire Department managed to send a rescue dive team on the spot. “Being in the Army and all that, he could swim like a fish. That’s why I can’t understand what happened,” explained Brandyn’s mother who was unable to believe what happened.

Nowhere To Be Found

The diver’s team brought Keira back on the shore but couldn’t locate Brandyn. The family was stunned by what just happened. How could an expert swimmer just go away like that? What actually took place? Where was he? They weren’t ready to believe he was gone until the team found his body.

3 Hours Later

The search operation went ongoing for the next 3 hours and eventually Brandyn’s body was brought to the shore. His family, his friends, his kids, his fiancee, all of them stood there in disbelief. The kids were taken home. The lakeside that was overloaded with joyful moments was now surrounded with utter silence that was only disturbed by the sobbing.

Keira Blamed Herself

Keira started to blame herself for what just took place. She was rethinking on how she insisted on going swimming when it wasn’t even a part of their plan. The little one wasn’t her fault and someone needed to tell her that.

Mother’s Grief

Brandyn’s mother was the one who looked what Keira was going through and tried to console her even when she herself was heartbroken. She explained to Keira that Brandyn loved her so much that he saved her life and that she is proud of her son and so should be Keira.

He Saved Her Life

“He was an amazing father. He was loved and will be missed. No matter what, he was a hero,” told Angelia. Each and every person who knew Brandyn knew him as a kindhearted, joyful person. And his sacrifice was a proof that he indeed was a hero.

A Good Guy

“When he was around you everybody had a good time. He very seldom got mad. Things you think would make somebody upset he’d just brush off like, ‘Whatever,'” recalled his mother who knows he is gone and his absence reminds her of that unfortunate day every time.

A Young Life

“His dream was to travel around the world. We often dreamed of a honeymoon exploring Europe. He really just wanted to see the world through his own eyes, not just a picture,” told Angelia. She could only think of honoring him in all the ways she can. 

A Sad Farewell

“He had no problems shining as bright as he did. Shortly put, he was an amazing man and I am lucky to have known him,” said Angelia. Two days after the incident, Brandyn’s friends and family met at Pilot Point and conducted a candlelight vigil to honor the brave hero.