A 27-year-old dad is being hailed as a hero after he was killed in the Texas floods while trying to save his family.
Julian Ryan and his fiancée Christinia Wilson were at their Ingram home on July 4 when the water in the nearby Guadalupe River started to rise rapidly, according to CBS affiliate KHOU.
“It just started pouring in,” Wilson recounted to the local news outlet, “and we had to fight the door to get it closed to make sure not too much got in.”
Wilson said the water was up to their knees within 20 minutes, prompting her and Ryan to retreat to the house’s back room with their kids and his mom. When they realized that police would not be able to come in time, Ryan punched out a window to allow the family to escape.
“It severed his artery in his arm,” Wilson recalled, “and almost cut it clean off.”
Wilson said she and her mother-in-law were able to make it out with the kids, but it was too late for Ryan, who she said told her in his final message: “I’m sorry, I’m not going to make it. I love y’all.”
According to Wilson, rescuers were not able to reach Ryan’s body for hours until the water receded.
And for Wilson’s own mother, her son-in-law made what she described as the “ultimate sacrifice to save what was most important to him: his family.”
“He was not just their hero, but mine,” Pamela Baker told People in a statement published July 7. “He was a great guy in so many ways. He brought out the best version of my daughter. He loved her and their babies with all of him.”
She continued, “He was an upbeat, optimistic person. He was always there when we needed him.”
Likewise, Ryan’s brother Joseph Rounsley believes he died as a “true hero.”
“Julian gave his life for his family,” he wrote in a GoFundMe. “While his family is eternally grateful for his sacrifice, they are shattered by their loss. Julian was a beloved son, father, fiancé, brother, uncle, nephew, cousin, and friend to so many, and his sudden departure has left an unfillable void in all our lives.”
Rounsley added, “No one is ever prepared for such a loss, especially one that comes so suddenly.”
For more people speaking out about the Texas floods, read on.
Jenna Bush Hager
The Jenna & Friends host shared that her mom, former First Lady Laura Bush, was a drama counselor at Camp Mystic, where at least 27 girls and counselors died, as of July 7, following the devastating flooding on the Guadalupe River.
“My mom was a counselor there, but also so many of my friends were raised at this camp,” Jenna said on Today, July 7. “Texas camps are institutions, as you just heard, where many family members—generations—this camp was 100 years old. Grandmothers, mothers, kids have all gone there.”
Jenna, who shared that many of her friends and their kids were there last week, praised the community for coming together amid the tragedy.
“The stories that I heard over the last couple days were beautiful and heartbreaking,” she said. “Texas has a type of resilience where they’re generous people, where people want to reach out and help.”
“Texas camps are really special because you’re thinking about 90-degree weather, no air conditioning,” the 43-year-old—who attended the nearby Camp Longhorn during her childhood—explained. “My kids are at camp in Texas, and my husband said, ‘Why are we sending our kids to Texas, to camp? It’s hot!’ And it’s because of the love that’s there.”
Jennifer Garner
The 13 Going on 30 star—who was born in Houston—expressed her condolences in a July 6 Instagram Stories, writing with a red heart emoji, “Texas, God, be near.”
Matthew McConaughey and Camila McConaughey
The Interstellar actor and his wife called on others to “lend a helping hand” amid this difficult chapter.
“At least 70 lives have been lost, many more are unaccounted for, and countless Texans are hurting – inside and out,” their joint July 6 Instagram statement read. “It’s gonna be a long road ahead, but right now the shock, the pain, and the chaos need the steady hand of a neighbor.”
The University of Texas at Austin professor and the model concluded, “Texans are some of the most resilient and generous people on the planet.”
Hilary Duff
The Lizzie McGuire alum shared her grief amid the tragic flooding, writing on Instagram on July 6 that “heartbroken doesn’t begin to cover” her feelings.
“Consumed,” she explained, “Obsessed. Praying for even a shred of a miracle—to find a child alive in the wake of this boundless disaster. Tears fall every time I imagine one of these families receiving bad news… waiting… or entire families lost. Just gone. It’s too much to comprehend.”
“Beautiful Texas, I love you,” she continued. “To all the boots on the ground—I love you. To those facing tremendous, impossible loss—we are looking at their beautiful faces, embossing them in our minds.”
Hilary, who also attended nearby Camp Longhorn growing up, emphasized how the experience at camp “imprints on your soul.”
“I was—and forever will be—that girl with a wild-hearted, fierce love for my barefoot summers at camp in the Texas Hill country,” she wrote. “It changes your identity. It’s a realm of true magic. You could never imagine an ending this tragic. I’m just so deeply, absolutely sorry. Your loss is felt across the world.”
