The following are excerpts from an email conversation I was privy to earlier this morning:
All;
This morning on the way to work, out in the country, Gray happened upon a car that had left the road, and was upside down in a swampy area a few miles from his (Gray's) house; the water was deep enough that all he could see were the back tires of the car sticking out of the water. A few other cars had stopped, but the emergency vehicles had not yet arrived. the man who had been driving the submerged car was on the road, frantic, and bloody from trying to beat open the windshield of the car to rescue his 2-3 year old daughter who was strapped in her car seat; now upside down and under water. It was 40 degrees this morning here in Dallas at 6:00 and at least that cold there in Raleigh. After dunking into the brackish and black water, trying, and determining that all of the car doors were jammed, Gray convinced a few of the spectator men to help to try to turn the car over, right side up. It took several tries, and they were able to do so just as the emergency vehicles arrived.
It is unclear yet if the toddler has survived or not. From what he knows, Gray estimates she was under water for most of 30 minutes. Gray remembered to throw his cell phone into the car before going into the water, but his wallet and insulin pump are waterlogged and not working, respectively. Gray went home to shower and change afterwords, and he is in the office now. I have asked him to call his doctor, not only about the insulin pump, but to also see about a general antibiotic from whatever might be living in that nasty water, and for any potential lagging body ache and aftershock.
Please keep all involved in your thoughts and prayers.
We are proud of you Gray!
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Wow. How scary and heroic….I wonder what happened to the girl….will he be able to find out?
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He said he would find out later today.
Gray's dad was a firefighter, and Gray was a volunteer one while in college.
He says he was mostly shocked and appalled by the number of people unwilling to do anything except stand there and watch, or just drive by.......
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Gray is awesome! And you wonder why we love him!!!
A true hero to that family for sure! Duke is a really great hospital and praying for them both to recover.
Hope you get your pump dried out/replaced!!
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You are the Man, Gray! Hope all are OK and words don’t even say enough.
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Gray,
You are my Hero!!
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Thanks, I'm clearly Hero for sure. To a point I felt so helpless. But I couldn't just pass by and not help...it could have easily been my family.
The little girl was under very long. The girl and dad were taken to Duke... Please pray for that family...
-Gray
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Gray is awesome! And you wonder why we love him!!!
A true hero to that family for sure! Duke is a really great hospital and praying for them both to recover.
Hope you get your pump dried out/replaced!!
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Not Awesome enough…
http://www.wral.com/news/local/story/8576281/
-Gray
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Gray
I am proud to know you. You did what you could to save the child; most folks would not have taken the initiative that you took to get her out of the water. You are a brave man. You are in my prayers for peace as is the family you tried to help. Rest easy my friend, I understand you’re hurt.
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Excellent words, Carl. Thank you and I think you speak for all of us.
One of the things Gray told me was that the majority of bystanders either just kept on driving, or would only stand and watch. He had to cajole the few who finally did go into the water with him to try to turn the car over.
It takes a very strong person to be willing to try to help others at their own expense.
You did good gray, and we are all so sorry for the tragic ending....
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....
I don't know about you, but I've had all day to reflect on this, and it has just made me sick to my stomach. A sweet little girl died because not enough people would help her frantic, bloody father to try to get her out of the upturned car. If the world had more people like Gray, there may have been a happier ending to this story. Please remember this the next time you see someone who needs help. You could save a life. We all owe it to each other as human beings.
