pondLast Sunday evening 9-year-old Brandi Odom and her two younger brothers were playing in a pond behind their grandparents' home in Haleyville, Alabama. They were supposed to have waited for their grandmother before they went in, but they didn't.

One of the boys, age 6, ended up wading out too far into deeper water and started drowning. Brandi bravely went out to save him, and according to The North Jefferson News, she was able to pull him to safety. Unfortunately, things didn't happily end there.

Instead it seems that somehow while rescuing him she got stuck in the deep water and drowned. Her grandmother pulled her from the water and attempted CPR, and rescue workers were called, but it was too late. She gave up her life for brother.

What an amazing little girl. She's a true hero.

I can't even begin to imagine what this family is going through. On one hand they have to be so happy and grateful that their son is alive, but at the same devastated that their daughter had to die to save him. How do celebrate and grieve simultaneously? It's so difficult to see any sense or "reason" for such a horrific tragedy to hit a family, and I always hope that they have some sort of faith that can offer them at least some sort of support as they try to move on with their lives.

Also as difficult as this time has to be for her family dealing with her death and burying their baby, hopefully they can also take some comfort in knowing that she died in the most honorable way possible and that they raised a hero.

Has one of your children ever acted to protect or save a sibling?

 

Image via AndyRobertsPhotos/Flickr