The Last Thing They Heard

 

The last sound her family heard was her voice… singing through the chaos as she helped them escape the flood.Seventeen-year-old Malaya Hammond helped her younger siblings escape their family’s minivan after it plunged into floodwaters in Central Texas. In the chaos, she was swept away.Her family was on their way to summer camp when heavy rain made it impossible to see that the bridge ahead had been washed out. It was a route they knew by heart. There was no time to stop.Malaya, a lifeguard and swim instructor, was the first to react. She opened the van door, giving everyone a way out. Her parents and younger siblings made it to shore. Malaya did not.After two days of searching by land, air, and water, she was found, peacefully beneath a tree, wrapped in nature.Hours later, her family returned to the river. As they turned to leave, a rainbow stretched across the sky.Malaya was radiant, kind, and selfless. Her loss is unimaginable. The Hammonds are now facing funeral costs, the loss of their car, and the long road to healing.This is more than a flood story. This is the story of a young woman who gave everything to protect the people she loved. #flood #texas #riseandshine