Katharina Buczek
On July 23, a teen from Oregon, Missouri, tragically lost his life while trying to save his four-year-old brother from drowning.
Eighteen-year-old Alex Harris and his little brother, Asher, had visited the Missouri River in Holt County to go for a swim amidst the scorching heat wave.
But, his little brother began to struggle to stay above water after getting caught in a current, and Alex jumped into action.
He held his brother above his head until his mom arrived and then began to drown. Nikki Harris, the boys’ mom, recalled the events in an interview with TODAY.
“I watched his hands let go, and he sank. I knew the exhaustion he was feeling. I tried so hard to get to him faster,” she said.
Alex’s passing has since weighed heavy on his family and the entire small-town community of Oregon.
But, he is also being remembered as a selfless big brother and hero.
“If it hadn’t been for Alex keeping Asher up until his mother got there, they would both be gone,” Tyson Harris, the boys’ father, began in a Facebook post.
Facebook; pictured above is Alex
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