Updated

Updated · Fox News · Aug 3

Montana Teen, 14, Lassos Man to Safety After 4 People Were Thrown Into Yellowstone River

Updated

Updated · Fox News · Aug 3

Montana Teen, 14, Lassos Man to Safety After 4 People Were Thrown Into Yellowstone River

Q: Did Jory Thomas’s first-try rope throw save a drifting man where trained responders arrived minutes later?

Yes. By all available accounts, Jory Thomas’s first-try rope throw was the action that saved the drifting man before trained responders could reach him. Authorities and multiple news reports say the man was still being swept downstream in a fast current after a raft and paddleboard hit a bridge pillar near Greycliff, Montana, on July 5. Three others reached shore, but this man remained in the river holding a cooler. Thomas, 14, ran along the bank with a lariat, caught the man on his first throw, and pulled him through chest-deep water to shore. Emergency crews arrived only minutes later, but they came after Thomas had already gotten the man out of the water. A Sweet Grass County deputy reportedly found everyone ashore when he arrived. Other reports put first responders’ arrival at about 10 minutes after the 911 call. The strongest evidence comes from Sweet Grass County Sheriff Alan Ronneberg, who said Thomas “saved the individual’s life” and that without him, search and rescue might have been “looking for a body by that time.” That official assessment is reinforced by the sheriff’s office awarding Thomas a Certificate of Achievement for the rescue. There are minor variations in retellings about rope length and exact timing, but the central facts are consistent: Thomas made a successful first throw, secured the man, and got him to shore before responders arrived. Based on the reporting and the sheriff’s statement, the answer is yes.

3 articles · Updated · Fox News · Aug 3

Jory Thomas, 14, pulled a drifting man from the Yellowstone River with a 12-foot lariat after a rafting accident near Greycliff, Montana, on July 5.
A raft and paddleboard had struck a bridge pillar, throwing four people into the water; three made it to shore, but one man kept floating downstream while clinging to a cooler.
Thomas said he ran along the bank, crossed a waist-deep side channel and caught the man on his first throw, then dragged him through chest-deep water until first responders arrived.
Sweet Grass County Sheriff's Office later awarded Thomas a Certificate of Achievement, while the teen said ranch roping skills he had only started seriously practicing this year helped save the man's life.