Montana Teen Says God Put Him in the Right Place to Save Drowning Man With His Lasso
A Montana teen says God put him in the right place to save a drowning man with his lasso. Lassos and the Midwest pretty much go hand in hand. But 14-year-old Jory Thomas used his for something far greater than cattle. With courage, quick thinking, and one miraculous throw, this young ranch kid did something that would make any Midwestern proud: he saved a man’s life.
While camping near Greycliff, Montana, Jory suddenly heard desperate cries carried across the water. “We all heard, ‘Help, help,’” Jory said.
Montana Teen Hears Cries for Help From the River
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A raft and paddleboard had collided with a bridge pillar, throwing four people into the swift current. Three managed to reach shore, but one man was still being swept downstream, clinging to a cooler.
Jory jumped into action; he knew he could help as he emptied his pockets, waded through a waist-deep side channel, and sprinted along the riverbank to catch up with the man. Then he reached for the one thing no one expected him to have: his 12-foot lariat.
14-Year-Old Uses His Lasso in a Daring Rescue
Jory had spent the past year practicing his roping skills on the family ranch. Every afternoon, when the weather cooled, he worked with a roping dummy. Still, his grandmother, Sandy Thomas, said he had never brought his lariat on a camping trip before.
“And that day he did,” Sandy said.
Standing in chest-deep water, Jory swung the rope and sent the loop toward the struggling man.“First instinct I thought was try and rope him and drag him out before he gets too far down the river,” Jory said. “Luckily, I caught him first try.”
Jory Thomas Credits God for Putting Him There
Jory carefully pulled the man through the current and toward shore, holding on until first responders arrived. Once the danger had passed, the weight of what he had done began to sink in. “He comes up, and he said, ‘I think I just saved a life,’” Sandy recalled. “And we all said, ‘Yeah, you did.’”
Jory, whose father and brothers serve on the local fire department, believes he was meant to be beside that river. “God was basically putting me in the place of all this,” he said. “God was just telling me, ‘Go get him, you got it, and I believe in you.’”
Jory once thought his lariat would only help him work cattle. But on that summer afternoon, every hour of practice prepared him for one extraordinary moment.
“I’m glad I was here to help,” he said. Sometimes God places exactly what is needed into willing hands, then gives an ordinary person the courage to use it.
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“Rescue those being led away to death; hold back those staggering toward slaughter.” Proverbs 24:11
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h/t: KTQV News
Featured Image Credit: YouTube/KTVQ News
Originally published August 27, 2026.
