On Sundays I write about someone who deserved our praise because of something he/she did. Today that honoree is Branson Baker.
Remember the horrific grouping of tornadoes that hit in Oklahoma in late April.
From CBS, Fort Worth:
“The only way he found his way back was with lightning strikes that lit the road. He ran as fast as he could, as hard as he could, he made a mile in 10 minutes. That’s pretty impressive for a little kid,” said Branson’s uncle, Johnny Baker. “The last thing Branson told them was, ‘Mom, dad, please don’t die, I will be back.'”
From C&C:
Remember the big Oklahoma twister in the news a couple weeks ago? Afterwards, CBS Fort Worth ran a delightful local-interest story headlined, “9-year-old’s heroic act saves parents after Oklahoma tornado: “Please don’t die, I will be back”.”
Alert Oklahoma resident and baseball fan Branson Baker, 9, was evacuating during the storms with his parents just north of Marietta when they encountered one of the state’s seventeen fierce tornados. In what must have been a terrifying trial, the twister tossed the little family’s truck right into a tree.
It was ugly. According to the family’s GoFundMe, the accident broke Wayne Baker’s back, neck, sternum, ribs, and arm, and he lost part of a finger. It broke Lindy Baker’s back, neck, jaw, ribs, and right hand, and punctured her lung.
But miraculously, little Branson was unhurt.
Nine-year-old Branson managed to squirm out of the mangled truck and didn’t waste a moment. Over the roar of the storm, he shouted “Mom, dad, please don’t die, I will be back!” He then raced more than a mile over difficult terrain in pitch darkness — keeping his bearings using lightning flashes — and ran to a neighbor’s house to get help. The young man might even have set a ground speed record for his age bracket, clocking in at a tidy and impressive ten minutes over land and easily beating the field.
Branson’s parents are recovering in the hospital.
“Be like Branson.”
6/23/24