This Yellowstone River rescue featuring a teenager, a lasso and a person in danger of drowning is one of the coolest stories you’ll ever hear.
Jory Thomas and his family was camping near the Yellowstone River earlier in July when they heard cries for help coming from the water. Their quaint trip quickly turned into a rescue mission, and Jory – a 14-year-old kid just starting to learn the ropes of ranching – didn’t hesitate to jump into action to help out.
Thomas told KTVQ that there were at least two or three people in danger, but one was really struggling to keep their head above water:
“We all heard, ‘Help, help!’ There’s two or three people floating down the river, one hanging on to the cooler, and he wasn’t saying anything.
The current was pretty fast then, and he was moving pretty quickly. Only thing I could focus on was helping him get out of the water because I didn’t want to see anyone go in front of me.”
So the 14-year-old kid emptied everything he had in his pockets and ran as fast as he could to a point where he could help the man that was in danger of drowning. What was Jory’s plan? Use his rodeo skills to lasso the man and pull him to safety.
Obviously, he never trained to use his lariat in this way… but he had it on him, and he just went back to all of the training he had been doing every afternoon:
“I actually started really getting into roping this year. I went to brandings and started roping cattle then, and I started getting better. Every afternoon when it cools off, I go out and rope the roping dummy.”
This lassoing had a bit higher stakes than an afternoon practice session, but the moment wasn’t too big for Jory.
His grandmother, Sandy Thomas, said that it was a miniature miracle that her grandson had his lasso on him in the first place. The family had been on many camping trips before, and never once had he brought his lariat with him:
“We come down to this campground a couple times during the summer. Jory comes over quite frequently and has never, ever brought his lariat with him before. And that day he did.”
And on that day, all of Jory’s practice paid off.
The teenager got in position to rope the man to safety, and miraculously, Thomas successfully lassoed the struggling swimmer on the first throw:
“First instinct I thought was try and rope him and drag him out before he gets too far down the river. Luckily, I caught him first try.”
Jory’s grandmother says it was a shocking and unexpected turn in their camping trip, but Jory acting quickly to help someone in need was to be expected:
“His first instinct always is to help other people. He’s always been that way. The whole community is proud of him. We’ve had a lot of feedback, but that’s Jory. He’s always there to help somebody else.”
And as the teenager is being hailed as a hero, he is giving all of the glory to God. Jory says he could hear guidance from the Lord during the rescue, and feels as though God had put him in there that day – with lasso in hand – to save someone’s life:
“God was basically putting me in the place of all this. God was just telling me all of this at the time and saying, ‘Go get him, you got it, and I believe in you.’ I just thought I could help with cattle. Not really helping humans and stuff like that. But I’m glad I was here to help.”
Not only did he help… he saved someone’s life.
