Teenage Girl, 17, Tragically Loses Her Life Heroically Saving Her Entire Family from Raging Texas Floodwaters

A teenage girl was swept to her death in historic Texas flooding after heroically saving her entire family.

Malaya Hammond, 17, was traveling to a Christian summer camp with her family at 5 a.m. on Saturday when their van drove off a bridge submerged by floodwaters, sweeping it into Marble Falls, according to a Facebook post by family friend Mikki Willis.

Despite the terrifying situation, Malaya managed to open the van door, allowing her parents, Liz and Matthew, and her younger siblings—Khalil, 16, and Surya, 14—to escape what would have otherwise been a deadly fate beneath the water.

Malaya Hammond, 17, lost her life saving her parents and younger siblings from devastating Texas floodwaters.

“In total darkness, they fought to stay above water,” Willis wrote, but “Malaya was swept away by the fierce current.”

Her family searched tirelessly—by land, air, and water—day and night, Willis said. Tragically, Malaya’s body was found two days later, on Monday.

Willis described their overwhelming grief, saying, “The family is going through the unthinkable right now.”

Family friend Mikki Willis wrote in a Facebook post, “The family is going through the unthinkable right now,” describing their overwhelming grief.

The Cow Creek Bridge over Route 1431 in the Texas Hill Country northwest of Austin, where the family’s vehicle drove off a flood-covered bridge.

Hammond’s family searched tirelessly “day and night—by land, air, and water,” Willis said, before her body was found two days later.

“As the eldest, Malaya set the standard. Ask anyone who knew her, and they’ll say she was one of the most gentle, compassionate young women they’ve ever met,” the family friend said.

An online fundraiser had raised more than $144,000 as of Friday morning.