A Mother's Love

Submitted by Susan Jarrett

Doug and Judy Cotter were to host a potluck , at their home near Hardy, on Saturday, September 23, 2006, and everyone was invited.  The events that would unfolded that day will live in the minds of our Councilmen Phillip Hubbard, Doug Cotter and Dub Maxwell forever.  Phillip had come ahead of his family to Doug and Judy’s home as well as Dub and Janice Maxwell.  Doug Cotter had set up his new 5th wheel beside of Dub and Janice as councilman Davis was going to stay in it for the weekend.  Dub and Janice had set their trailer with their truck attached, along the small creek about a mile away from Phillip’s cabin.  The cabin was on Martin Creek Road at Williford.  Martin Creek is a small deep creek that runs all year long and that eventually dumps into Spring River.

Dinner was prepared for everyone and Phillip sat down to dinner while he was waiting for Tammy and the children to arrive.  However, when dinner and visiting was finished, Phillip went to leave to return to his cabin and found that Little Barn Creek, while normally is a very shallow creek, was now too deep to cross.  Phillip tried many ways to reach his wife and children but was unable to do so.  Everyone knows how much Phillip loves his wife and children and for him not to be able to reach them was devastating.  Tammy said that for some reason she was unable to go to sleep that night but the children were asleep.  Sometime around 2:45 am the electricity went out and Tammy took the flashlight and went outside.  The site she saw terrified her, the water was rising fast; she went back inside and called 911 at 2:53am.  Within five minutes the water was pouring into the cabin and was halfway up her legs.  She immediately got the children up and had them to put their shoes on and tried to decide what she should do next.  It was finally decided that she and son Taylor, age 15, would go outside next to the cabin and put her daughter Payton, age 8, and her friend, Savanna Sims, age 8, into a tree.  By now the water was waist deep and a raging torrent.  As they clung to the tree, she was on one side of the tree and Taylor was on the other.  Tammy was being pounded with the current and debris.  Taylor suggested to his Mom that she should get on the same side of the tree with him and it would help with the current and debris that was hitting her in the back.  Tammy moved to the other side of the tree; instead of helping, it became much harder for both she and Taylor to cling to the tree.  Tammy realized that if she continued to hold on; it could cost both of their lives or her son’s life.  As a mother she decided that it must be her to turn loose.  She decided that she would give Taylor instructions to hang in there and care for the two girls and with that she would turn loose; realizing this could be the end of her life.  Payton and Savanna were singing “Jesus Loves Me” as Tammy was swept away.

As she was being sweep down the raging creek; the only way that she could tell how fast she was moving was when the lighting would light up the sky and then she could see how fast everything was moving.  When she thought she was taking her last breath, somehow she found another tree.  As she hung onto the tree she could see two other trees with debris building up between them and it looked so good to her that she thought she might try and reach them in hopes of getting on top of the wood.  But no sooner had that thought came to her, she saw the wood and debris breaking up.  Later she became so weary while clinging to the tree that she started to doze off and then she heard her Mother call her and she woke up.  She said she felt her Mother was with her as she waited to be rescued.  (We all know how God sends Angels to assist us.) She was able to stay in that tree until she was rescued at 9:15am.

In the Bible it tells us that God compares his love for us with that of a Mother, understanding the sacrifice that Tammy was willing to make that day for her children; can we relate to the greatest sacrifice that was ever made, when God sent his only son, Jesus, to the cross for all of our sins. 

To the man, Calvin Hale, that rescued all of the children (by himself) and then came to rescue Tammy; we Thank You!! He tied a 100’ rope to himself and another person and then found this to be still to short and had to improvise in order to reach her, as the search and rescue squad stayed on the banks and watched.  We want to say a special heartfelt gratitude of “thanks”.  We also want to say a special thank you to Chris Taylor and Trina Davis for taking care of Tammy and the children after they were rescued.

Dub and Janice Maxwell’s truck and travel trailer and all of its content was a total loss.  The truck and trailer was wrapped around a tree.  Doug and Judy Cotter’s travel trailer was a total loss that day also.

On Sunday morning, Phillip and Tammy returned to their cabin and retrieved several items including their dog that somehow had survived.  Later that evening and /or prior to Monday morning, two men in a boat, robbed and stripped everything of value in their cabin.  These two men robbed many other homes that were flooded.

Phillip is a spiritual advisor for our men and Tammy works with the youth in their church.  Tammy said that it was God that brought her and the children through that day. 

We say “Thank You” to everyone for the prayers, help and financial support. 

There were miracles that occurred that day but there was also tragedy.  A young junior firefighter, Christopher Allen “Chris” Bodkins, (age 16), was with his step-father, Bill Cossey, assistant chief of the Williford Volunteer Fire Department, and a family friend, Cliff King, 21; they were responding to the 911 call that Tammy had made.  The car he was in was swept off a low-water bridge and Chris was swept away after he crawled out of the car window.  Firefighters served as an honor guard at his funeral and there was a 21 gun salute at the graveside.  We ask that after you have read this, please take time to offer prayers for the family of Chris.