Bedridden Texas father rescued by son-in-law moments before floodwater filled his room, family says
Sisto Charles, 77, had no way of escaping his San Angelo bed when the floodwater began gushing into the San Angelo home he shares with his family — and 911 wasn't answering their pleading calls for help, his daughter told The Post.
'I was crying, it was sad,' Rachel Sanchez, the homeowner and her father's caretaker, explained, adding that, 'I've lived there for 30 years, and nothing like that has ever happened.'
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3 Sisto Charles, 77, would have 'drowned' if his own family didn't rescue him during the flood, Sanchez said.
Courtesy of Rachel Sanchez
The horror unfolded in the family's home around 4 a.m. — around the same time residents of nearby Kerr County were alerted that the Guadalupe River was surging at an incredible rate.
Flood water was already gushing along the roadway and was strong enough to push a car carrying a couple into the Sanchez's front yard.
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'It looked like a river,' Sanchez recalled.
It was just moments before it started gushing into the home, quickly rising to thigh-high depths.
3 'It looked like a river,' Sanchez recalled.
Courtesy of Rachel Sanchez
Sanchez rabidly began unplugging every electrical cord in the home out of fear her husband, daughter and father could be electrocuted, but soon realized the family needed to escape.
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'I have my dad on hospice. I'm his caretaker and I was just more worried about him. He's bedridden. He can't walk or anything, it's very hard to move him. I couldn't lift him by myself, so I was just panicking,' Sanchez said.
Charles suffers from dementia and Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease, she explained. But her husband is also disabled, and recently had surgery on his ankle. Neither of the men would have been able to leave the home on their own.
Sanchez called 911 repeatedly for help. At first, she was told rescuers were inundated with calls and could not respond. Then, the calls stopped going through.
3 The water gushed into the house around 4 a.m.
Courtesy of Rachel Sanchez
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By that time, the water level had reached the bottom of Charles' mattress.
That's when her daughter's husband came in the nick of time — Robert, and his friend Gilbert, sailed into the home on kayaks and retrieved the entire family.
'They came through the alley. My daughter was at the very end of the alley and I could see her crying, saying, 'Mom, come, we're coming. Grandpa is going to be okay.' And it was sad. I was crying,' Sanchez said.
The men were able to lift Charles and deliver him to an ambulance that was up the road on higher ground — roughly six hours after the water breached the family's home.
The septuagenarian was found to be in good health and is being cared for at a local hospital.
When asked what would have happened if Robert and Gilbert didn't step in, Sanchez said simply: 'He would have drowned.'
Sanchez, her husband and younger daughter are staying with their older daughter and son-in-law as they wait to safely return to their home.
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The water has since receded, and Sanchez plans to visit her house soon, though she is unsure what to expect.
The property loss hits even harder for the family, and comes just on the heels of another disaster they suffered.
'It's just sad. Two years ago, my daughter lost everything in the fire. My oldest daughter and now we have to go stay with them. This is crazy.'
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