When help finally arrived, time was quickly running out. And Jordan’s first words to those rescuers were: “Take my brother first.” Sadly, those were also Jordan’s Last words.

The teenager couldn’t swim, and chaos was all around him, and he pushed the rescuers away from him and had them take his brother first.

Seconds later, after young Blake had been pulled to safety, Jordan, as well as his mother, were swept away by the floodwaters… and to their deaths.

Says Jordan’s father, who wrote about the pain of losing his wife and young son: “Tough isn’t always loud and brash and brazen. Tough is sometimes four words quietly but firmly spoken by a boy who couldn’t swim as water threatened to submerge him. Everyone can be tough when the need arises.”

Rest in peace, Jordan. May your wings take you to all the beautiful spots in heaven.