Montana teen rescues man from Yellowstone River with lasso
A 14-year-old cattle roping enthusiast rescued a man from the Yellowstone River over Fourth of July weekend, using his lasso to pull the man to safety.
Jory Thomas was at his grandparents’ home near Greycliff in Sweet Grass County when he heard screams for help. Four people on a raft and paddleboard had struck a bridge pier and fallen into the river. Three made it to shore, but a fourth was clinging to a cooler and drifting downstream.
Thomas emptied his pockets, grabbed his lariat, and waded into the water up to his chest. He convinced the man to let go of the cooler and caught him around the arm and neck on his first throw. A bystander helped reel them in.“It was straight out of a western movie,” Thomas later told KTVQ News 2. He said he had started roping more seriously this year, practicing on a dummy every afternoon.
“My opinion, Jory saved the individual’s life, 100%,” Sweet Grass County Sheriff Alan Ronneberg told Cowboy State Daily. “Had Jory not acted, I believe the chances of this individual not making it to shore were very slim.”
Sheriff’s deputies arrived about 3 minutes after Thomas’ father, a volunteer firefighter, called 911. Thomas’ father said the swift current on that stretch of the Yellowstone quickly leads to rapids and logjams that can be dangerous.
“I felt pretty good afterwards that I knew he was okay and was out of the water,” Thomas said. His grandmother, Sandy Thomas, recalled his reaction. “He comes up, and he said, ‘I think I just saved a life,’” she told KTVQ. “And we all said, ‘Yeah, you did.’”
