Jordan Rice Is The Unbearable Face Of The Australian Floods
JORDAN Rice is the face of the floods that have killed tens of people and ruined lives in Australia. In Toowoomba’s flooded high street, Jordan Rice is with his brother Blake and mother Donna. They are stranded. They are on the roof of their car.
A truck driver arrives. He ties a rope to himself. He dives in. He saves Blake. Jordan and Donna take the rope. The rope breaks. Jordan and his mother are swept long. They clamber onto a tree. Jordan cannot hang on. His mother lets go to try and save him. Both drown.
John Tyson is father to Jordan Rice and his three brothers. He’s been Donna’s partner for 30 years. He calls her the “love of my life”.
“(The truck driver) went to grab Jordan first, who said, ‘Save me brother’. I can only imagine the fear coursing through his body,” Mr Tyson, 46, said.
“He won’t go down with any fanfare or anything like that – I don’t think anyone will even wear a black armband for him – but he’s just the champion of all champions, a family hero.”
He adds:
“The poor little bugger, they just both drowned. He was a very quiet kid. He was the exact opposite to all the others. He’d wear purple and chrome boots and red skinny jeans and one of those real sad penguin golf shirts.”
The numbers of dead you can handle. The individual story is unbearable…
Posted: 12th, January 2011 | In: Key Posts, Reviews Comments (2) | TrackBack | Permalink
