Leo’s Survival Kit: A Symbol of Hope After the Floods

As I write this article, the death toll from the catastrophic Texas floods has climbed to nearly 90. At least 27 of the confirmed deceased are children and staff from Camp Mystic, a beloved girls’ summer camp in Kerr County. An additional 10 campers and one counselor remain missing after the flash floods swept through the area. We’ve all seen the heartbreaking images of sodden mattresses, waterlogged belongings, and teddy bears scattered across what used to be safe, joy-filled dormitories.

theCHIVE calls Texas its home, so this is personal for us. Many of us have friends, or friends of friends, who know parents with children missing. I cannot imagine.

Thanks to the tireless work of first responders, the National Guard, Coast Guard, and Red Cross, small glimmers of hope have emerged from the Texas floods. There was the story of 27-year-old Devyn Smith who was swept 20 miles down the Guadalupe River before finding a fixture in an old-growth pine tree. She fought off a refrigerator that was trying to drag her underwater and somehow managed to pull herself up on a tree branch and called for help. A neighbor, Carl Jeter, heard her cries for help and called 911 and she was miraculously saved by first responders.

Another hopeful story of survival has emerged in the aftermath of the floods today. Just outside Kerrville, Jonathan and Brittany Rojas came to see what was left of a relative's home. When they arrived, only the foundations remained and there was no sign of the family.

Five people were in the house the night of the deluge. The mother and her baby remain missing. The teenage son barely escaped with his life. The BBC reported, “The teenage son, Leo, survived after he became snared in barbed wire, preventing him from being swept away.”

Let’s pause here for a minute. Being ensnared and tethered to a barbed wire fence would be an unpleasant experience on a sunny day. Now add a water surge of 356,000 cubic feet per second. I thought nearly drowning-by-refrigerator was bad.

As the reporter was interviewing the Rojas couple, a neighbor approached and said they’d found an item on their lawn that was salvaged from the house. It was the teenager's money jar. The label on it read, "Leo's survival kit". And that gave me an idea.

But first, the fact that barbed wire should become one’s only salvation calls into stark relief the devastation of the floods in Texas. Many have died, and those who survived will have scars.

Somewhere there’s a kid who’s lost his mom and his little brother. Also, he’s no doubt in tremendous physical pain. I propose that when he leaves the hospital, he can take some solace in the fact that a group of strangers somewhere who cared deeply… and maybe he will have a better life for having known this. Certainly, he already has the courage.

I propose that we digitize Leo’s survival kit and begin with a $2,000 goal to fill it up. Chive Charities will make sure to pass it along with a kind note from the Chive community when Leo is released from the hospital. All donations will be sent directly to Rosa Chavez, Leo's mother.