Posted on 01/06/2008 1:15:25 AM PST by rogernz
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/1/story.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10485440
A Kiwi priest has died a hero after sacrificing his life for a 7-year-old boy drowning off the coast of New Caledonia.
Jeremy Gray, 29, was walking in shallow water with the boy while on a New Year's church picnic celebration, when the pair fell into a hole in a coastal reef at Yate, near Noumea.
Neither of them saw the hole because the water was muddied by the recent rainy season floods. They were trapped by the swirling seas.
Gray managed to push the boy out of the deep water and back into the shallows and, despite being tired from his efforts, refused to take the youngster's outstretched hand.
"Jeremy shouted 'go back, go back'. He knew he would pull the small boy back into the water and they would both die," said Father Bernard Girol, one of those at the picnic.
"He used all his energy to save the boy and he got tired. It was Jeremy who saved his life."
The 7-year-old ran to get help and returned with his father, who dived into the rough water to rescue the unconscious Gray, but it was too late.
"Jeremy was already gone, and the boy's father almost drowned too; he got caught in the whirlpool as well," Father Girol said.
Other rescuers pulled both Gray and the 27-year-old father out - but the trainee priest was dead.
catholic news ping.
Greater love hath no man...
It is the sermon of love, preached from the altar of sacrifice; no greater message has ever been preached, even from the highest pulpit.
And so Jeremy enters the Kingdom of God, into the Arms of the Father Himself...
“Well done, thou good and faithful servant”!
Beautiful.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.