
Dad dies after almost cutting arm ‘clean off' while trying to save family in Texas flooding: ‘I'm not going to make it'
Julian Ryan, 27, his mother, his fiancée Christinia Wilson, and the couple's 6-year-old and 13-month-old children all huddled in the bedroom of their trailer home in Ingram as the surging waters of the Guadalupe River shocked them awake at 4 a.m. Friday, according to The New York Times.
'It just started pouring in, and we had to fight the door to get it closed to make sure not too much got in,' Wilson told local KHOU.
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4 Julian Ryan died after saving his family from the deadly flood waters in Texas on July 4, 2025.
GoFundMe
With his two babies already perched on a floating mattress, the door of the bedroom burst open, flooding the room — and Ryan made a drastic move to save his family.
The brave father punched a hole in a bedroom window — severing an artery in his arm and almost cutting the limb 'clean off,' family members told KHOU.
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Wilson told the outlet that she repeatedly called 911 but that no one was able to get to their home in time to save her valiant fiancé.
'I'm sorry, I'm not going to make it. I love y'all,' Ryan told his family as he bled out in the flooding bedroom.
The waters continued to rise until the force ripped the trailer in half and the family was able to flee to safety without their brave dad, son, and husband, according to the Times.
4 Julian Ryan with Christinia Wilson and their children.
KHOU 11/YouTube
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4 Christinia Wilson speaks to a reporter after her fiancé's death.
KHOU 11/YouTube
4 Flood waters rage in the Texas Hill Country.
'He was the best father, and was always such a happy person who was never above helping people, no matter what it cost,' Wilson said.
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'Julian gave his life for his family, passing as a true hero. While his family is eternally grateful for his sacrifice, they are shattered by their loss,' a GoFundMe that has raised over $25,000 read.
Ryan's body was not recovered until hours later on Friday after the waters in Kerr County began to subside.
The shocking flash flood has claimed the lives of 43, including 15 children, with as many as 22 girls from Christian summer retreat Camp Mystic still unaccounted for.

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Boston Globe
5 hours ago
- Boston Globe
Harrowing stories of rescue emerge from Texas floods as crews search for more than 160 reported missing
More than 160 people are still believed to be missing, and at least 118 have died in the floods that laid waste to the Hill Country region of Texas. The large number of missing suggests that the full extent of the catastrophe is still unclear five days after the disaster. Get Starting Point A guide through the most important stories of the morning, delivered Monday through Friday. Enter Email Sign Up The floods are now the deadliest from inland flooding in the United States since 1976, when Colorado's Big Thompson Canyon flooded, killing 144 people, said Bob Henson, a meteorologist with Yale Climate Connections. Advertisement Crews used backhoes and their bare hands Wednesday to dig through piles of debris that stretched for miles along the Guadalupe River in the search for the missing. 'We will not stop until every missing person is accounted for,' Governor Greg Abbott said Tuesday. 'Know this also: There very likely could be more added to that list.' Public officials in the area have come under repeated criticism amid questions about the timeline of what happened and why widespread warnings were not sounded and more preparations were not made. Advertisement 'Those questions are going to be answered,' Kerr County Sheriff Larry Leitha said. 'I believe those questions need to be answered, to the families of the loved ones, to the public.' But he said the priority for now is recovering victims. 'We're not running. We're not going to hide from anything,' the sheriff said. Local leaders have talked for years about the need for a flood warning system, but concerns about costs and noise led to missed opportunities to put up sirens. Raymond Howard, a city council member in Ingram, said it was 'unfathomable' that county officials did not act. 'This is lives. This is families,' he said. 'This is heartbreaking.' A day earlier, the governor announced that about 160 people have been reported missing in Kerr County, where searchers already have found more than 90 bodies. Officials have been seeking more information about those who were in the Hill Country, a popular tourist destination, during the holiday weekend but did not register at a camp or a hotel and may have been in the area without many people knowing, Abbott said. The riverbanks and hills of Kerr County are filled with vacation cabins, youth camps, and campgrounds, including Camp Mystic, the century-old all-girls Christian summer camp where at least 27 campers and counselors died. Officials said five campers and one counselor have still not been found. Just two days before the flooding, Texas inspectors signed off on the camp's emergency planning. But five years of inspection reports released to the Associated Press did not provide any details about how campers would be evacuated. Advertisement With almost no hope of finding anyone alive, search crews and volunteers say they are focused on bringing the families of the missing some closure. Crews fanned out in airboats, helicopters, and on horseback. They used excavators and their hands, going through layer by layer, with search dogs sniffing for any sign of buried bodies. They looked in trees and in the mounds below their feet. They searched inside crumpled pickup trucks and cars, painting them with a large X, much like those marked on homes after a hurricane. More than 2,000 volunteers have offered to lend a hand in Kerr County alone, the sheriff said. How long the search will continue was impossible to predict given the number of people unaccounted for and the miles to cover. Shannon Ament wore knee-high rubber boots and black gloves as she rummaged through debris in front of her rental property in Kerr County. A high school soccer coach is one of the many people she knows who are still missing. 'We need support. I'm not going to say thoughts and prayers because I'm sick of that,' she said. 'We don't need to be blamed for who voted for who. This was a freak of nature — a freak event.' President Trump has pledged to provide whatever relief Texas needs to recover. He plans to visit the state Friday.

9 hours ago
'Send help or not, I have work to do': Texas man rescues family from catastrophic flood
As Central Texas grapples with one of its worst flooding disasters, which has claimed at least 110 lives and left 170 people missing, acts of courage shine through the darkness. Among them is Matthew Crowder, who rushed into the raging waters to rescue a sleeping family before dawn on July 4. Crowder, a manager at Texas Paintball, said he was headed to work around 3 a.m. local time when he noticed the rapidly rising floodwaters. That's when he spotted a house in danger, with people still asleep inside. "I started yelling to wake them up," Crowder recalled to ABC News. "The first one to come out was the oldest son, Benny. He saw his front yard become a raging river." Despite emergency dispatchers advising the family to stay put, Crowder knew they needed to evacuate immediately. "The house was making noise, trees were coming down, and water was rushing under the house," he explained. "I told dispatch, 'Send help or not, I have work to do.'" The rescue came at a crucial time. Just hours earlier, at 1:14 a.m., officials had upgraded the flash flood watch to a warning for parts of Kerr County. By 4:03 a.m., they had declared a flash flood emergency. The region would ultimately receive 15 inches of rain, more than double what meteorologists had predicted. For the family Crowder saved, he said the losses are staggering. "They lost everything - their car, their house. When I saw them yesterday, they were working with whatever they could salvage in trash bags," Crowder said. Crowder said he is now volunteering around the community to help families in need after the flood. He told ABC news the community's response has been overwhelming. Crowder's workplace, one of the largest businesses in the Dovestown area, has been flooded with offers of help. A GoFundMe campaign for the rescued family is "doing great," according to Crowder, and similar stories of neighbors helping neighbors continue to emerge.


Hamilton Spectator
9 hours ago
- Hamilton Spectator
Harrowing stories of rescue emerge from Texas floods as crews search for over 160 reported missing
HUNT, Texas (AP) — In the frantic hours after a wall of water engulfed camps and homes in Texas, a police officer who was trapped himself spotted dozens of people stranded on roofs and waded out to bring them to safety, a fellow officer said Wednesday. Another off-duty officer tied a garden hose around his waist so he could reach two people clinging to a tree above swirling floodwaters, Kerrville officer Jonathan Lamb said, describing another harrowing rescue. 'This tragedy, as horrific as it is, could have been so much worse,' Lamb told a news conference, crediting first responders and volunteers with saving lives during the flash floods on the July Fourth holiday. More than 160 people still are believed to be missing and at least 115 have died in the floods that laid waste to the Hill Country region of Texas. The large number of missing suggests that the full extent of the catastrophe is still unclear five days after the disaster. The floods are now the deadliest from inland flooding in the U.S. since 1976, when Colorado's Big Thompson Canyon flooded, killing 144 people, said Bob Henson, a meteorologist with Yale Climate Connections. Crews used backhoes and their bare hands Wednesday to dig through piles of debris that stretched for miles along the Guadalupe River in the search of the missing. 'We will not stop until every missing person is accounted for,' Gov. Greg Abbott told a news conference Tuesday. 'Know this also: There very likely could be more added to that list.' Public officials in the area have come under repeated criticism amid questions about why widespread warnings were not sounded and more preparations were not made ahead of the flooding. 'Those questions are going to be answered,' Kerr County Sheriff Larry Leitha said. 'I believe those questions need to be answered, to the families of the loved ones, to the public.' But he said the priority for now is recovering victims. 'We're not running. We're not going to hide from anything,' the sheriff said. Local leaders have talked for years about the need for a flood warning system, but concerns about funding and a lack of help from the federal government nixed a proposal to put up sirens. Raymond Howard, a city council member in Ingram, said it was 'unfathomable' that county officials did not act. 'This is lives. This is families,' he said. 'This is heartbreaking.' Number of missing has soared A day a earlier, the governor announced that about 160 people have been reported missing in Kerr County, where searchers already have found more than 90 bodies. Officials have been seeking more information about those who were in the Hill Country, a popular tourist destination, during the holiday weekend but did not register at a camp or a hotel and may have been in the area without many people knowing, Abbott said. The riverbanks and hills of Kerr County are filled with vacation cabins, youth camps and campgrounds, including Camp Mystic, the century-old all-girls Christian summer camp where at least 27 campers and counselors died. Officials said five campers and one counselor have still not been found. Just two days before the flooding, Texas inspectors signed off on the camp's emergency planning . But five years of inspection reports released to The Associated Press did not provide any details about how campers would be evacuated. Challenging search for the dead With almost no hope of finding anyone alive, search crews and volunteers say they are focused on bringing the families of the missing some closure. Crews fanned out in air boats, helicopters and on horseback. They used excavators and their hands, going through layer by layer, with search dogs sniffing for any sign of buried bodies. They looked in trees and in the mounds below their feet. They searched inside crumpled pickup trucks and cars, painting them with a large X, much like those marked on homes after a hurricane. How long the search will continue was impossible to predict given the number of people unaccounted for and the miles to cover. Shannon Ament wore knee-high rubber boots and black gloves as she rummaged through debris in front of her rental property in Kerr County. A high school soccer coach is one of the many people she knows who are still missing. 'We need support. I'm not going to say thoughts and prayers because I'm sick of that,' she said. 'We don't need to be blamed for who voted for who. This was a freak of nature — a freak event.' Trump plans to survey damage Friday President Donald Trump has pledged to provide whatever relief Texas needs to recover. He plans to visit the state Friday. Polls taken before the floods show Americans largely believe the federal government should play a major role in preparing for and responding to natural disasters. Catastrophic flooding is becoming a growing worry. On Tuesday, a deluge in New Mexico triggered flash floods that killed three people. Although it's difficult to attribute a single weather event to climate change , experts say a warming atmosphere and oceans make these type of storms more likely. ___ Lathan reported from Ingram, and Seewer reported from Toledo, Ohio. Associated Press writers Jim Vertuno in Austin, Texas, and John Hanna in Topeka, Kansas, contributed to this report. Error! Sorry, there was an error processing your request. There was a problem with the recaptcha. Please try again. You may unsubscribe at any time. By signing up, you agree to our terms of use and privacy policy . This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google privacy policy and terms of service apply. Want more of the latest from us? Sign up for more at our newsletter page .