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No parent ever wants to have to rely on our child for lifesaving help, but sometimes these things are beyond what we can control, and we can only hope and pray that our kids would have what it takes to rise to the occasion.
A mom and dad in Oklahoma must be especially proud of their little boy after he rose to the occasion with rare and praiseworthy courage when their lives were in danger. His quick thinking and heroism were larger than life and well beyond what you’d expect for his years.
From eerie stillness to sudden terror
The story began when tornados hit the area of Marietta, Oklahoma, at the end of April. Wayne Baker, a husband and father who lives in the area, noticed an eerie stillness in the air. He and his wife, Lindy, and their son, nine-year-old Branson, jumped in their truck and headed for a neighbor’s storm shelter.
But on the way there, the tornado caught up with them and tossed a tree into their truck, smashing it. Wayne and Lindy were badly injured and trapped at the scene:
Wayne Baker's back, neck, sternum, ribs, and arm were broken. He also lost part of a finger. Lindy Baker's back, neck, jaw, ribs, and right hand were broken. She also suffered a punctured lung.
Wayne described the horror of the moment in a later interview:
The roof collapsed in on both of us. Lindy was partially ejected from the vehicle. She went through the windshield and remained halfway into the vehicle and halfway out. It was pretty horrific.
A little boy on a mission
Somehow young Branson was uninjured in the backseat, and it became his mission to save his parents.
To understand the magnitude of what happened next, you need to know that it was pitch black outside, with a pelting, sideways rain; the ground around was a minefield of debris and downed power lines left in the tornado’s wake; and this little boy had escaped death just moments before. Most of us (of any age) wouldn’t want to take a single step in such conditions.
Yet with all these scary things around him, somehow Branson found the strength to go for help. He ran over a mile, alone in the dark, to save his parents’ lives.
“Mom, Dad, please don't die, I will be back,” he famously said, before taking off on his lifesaving journey.
He made it down the road in record time to the house of a neighbor and friend, and brought him back to help his parents. First responders were soon on the scene, and thankfully his parents are both recovering from their injuries.
And as though he weren’t enough of a legend already, the very day after his ordeal, he hit a home run and had seven RBIs at his Little League baseball game!
This young boy’s bravery under pressure is so inspiring, and I know I will be thinking of him the next time I find myself in a hard and scary situation. In case I ever doubted it, his story proves that anyone, of any age, can show courage, heroism, and virtue that is an example to us all.
