‘An Angel’: Man Heroically Saves People Trapped Amid Hurricane Helene Using Just His Surfboard
As stories of heartache and tragedy continue to unfold in the wake of Hurricane Helene, heroism is also on full display, with individuals going out of their way to help their fellow man.
Marty Thomas is among those receiving accolades after he rescued around a dozen people and their pets using his surfboard, WTVT-TV reported.
Thomas’ incredible efforts unfolded in Indian Rocks Beach, Florida, last week, when the hurricane hit, and some residents found themselves trapped inside their homes and unable to escape.
One of those victims was Anne McIntosh. She had so much water flooding into her home that the door wouldn’t open.
“The beds were floating,” she told WTVT-TV. “The couch was floating. My brother and his wife were on the counters.”
When the family began screaming for help, Thomas heard them from down the road, hopped on his surfboard, and headed toward them.
“He saved us,” McIntosh told WTVT-TV. “He got the door open. He paddled us across to safety. And just as an angel walking.”
Thomas was able to help others as well.
As for McIntosh, she was eternally grateful for the kind deed, repeatedly calling Thomas an “angel.”
“He’s an angel walking,” she continued. “He is the hero of Indian Rocks Beach now. And you do it so gracefully. Thank you. And I love you for it. And you deserve all the good things in life.”
Tragically, Hurricane Helene, which made landfall last week, is the second-deadliest hurricane to strike the American mainland over the past five decades, with at least 190 people confirmed dead.
North Carolina has seen more than half of those deaths, with entire towns wiped away in some areas.
Like Thomas’ bold act, other stories of heroic action are emerging across affected regions. For example, Katrina Foster-Fernandez and her seven children have reportedly been serving food and supplies to 150 people every day in Ludowici, Georgia, since the hurricane began.
“If I have a chance to help somebody else be OK, I’m always going to do it,” Foster-Fernandez told WJCL-TV. “Always.”
Read more about some of the other incredible hero stories here, and continue to pray for those impacted by this historic storm.
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