Officer saves baby from raging flood but can’t find the mother. Then he gets a genius idea.
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Officer saves baby from raging flood but can’t find the mother. Then he gets a genius idea.

There are thousands of stories going on every hour of every day in the aftermath of Harvey’s destruction.

The stories have been flooding out of Texas almost as fast as the waters rose.

And of course, we love a good rescue story. Take this one, for example:

Corporal Reed Clark, a supervisor of community public relations for the Harris County Precinct 2 Constable’s Office, had been assigned to a high-water rescue team for children with urgent medical needs.

His job was especially dangerous on many levels.

The water in the area he would be searching would not be calm and placid. It was nearing “white water” status in some places and had the potential to rise rapidly.

Not only that, but the survivors he was seeking were children in a high risk situation; some would require special patience and care.

If they couldn’t get near the home with their car, things could get bad very quickly.

Clark and his partner were being sent to pick up an asthmatic child that was nearing the point of distress. So time was of the essence and off they went.

“The water was so high that we couldn’t see the street signs,” Cpl. Clark told TODAY.

“I only knew to turn onto the street because I saw a light pole … the current was picking up very fast, like rapids almost.”

They had to abandon their car much sooner than they had anticipated. But they didn’t let that deter them from their job at hand.

They saw two jet skis on a trailer parked in what had been someone’s driveway, so they borrowed them and kept moving…heroes on the waves!

Once the asthmatic child had been taken to safety, the two men went back out to search for other children.

It was at that point that they noticed a group of a dozen or more people wading through the neck deep water. They each were carrying duffels and boxes held high above their head.

“They were screaming, ‘Baby! Baby!'” he recalled.

“I saw debris floating by, and I thought the baby was in the water … they saw me looking and pointed back to a woman holding what looked like a blanket.”

One of the women was Dajauh Zhane Henix — and she wasn’t holding belongings over her head. She was shielding her baby, Paige, from the water.

“I turned around to come back, and the water went over her head,” Cpl. Clark recalled.

“She held the baby above the water … I grabbed the baby and told her to (meet me at the designated rescue area).”

Clark left the baby with volunteers and went back into the water to save more children. He heard a couple of hours later that the baby still hadn’t been claimed.

TODAY reported that  Cpl. Clark at that time shifted his rescue efforts towards tracking down Henix to reunite her with her baby.

His idea was perfect:

He posted a photo to the precinct’s Facebook page, where it was spotted by a friend who saw that Henix had shared her own photo from a local shelter.

Then, through the magic of social media, the two were reunited.

They haven’t been able to meet yet in person but they have corresponded via social media. When the water recedes and things get back to normal, Clark hopes to meet with Henix and get to know baby Paige better.

He was impressed with the love Paige’s mother showed for her baby.

She’s a true hero,” said Clark. “She never said, ‘help me’ — she said, ‘get my baby out of here.’

Corporal Clark is quoted as saying:

“Even though we’re in a sad situation, it’s heartwarming to see how not only Texans and people in our community, but people from all over are helping and coming together.

This is what being an American is all about.”

We agree with him. God Bless America.

And also bless all the weary and storm-battered heroes like Corporal Clark that remind us in these troubling days of what is truly important.

Source: TODAY

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Bobbye Hudspeth is a freelance writer living in a little cabin on a creek in North Alabama. She shares her mini-farm with two mini long-haired dachshunds, a couple of rescue cats and a pair of fantail pigeons. She is involved in animal rescue and is currently writing a book on combining aerobics and yoga...in the pool.

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