The devastating Texas floods have claimed many lives, while more remain unaccounted for. Malaya Grace also fell victim to the raging waters while trying to save her siblings. Following the tragedy, her parents have opened up, revealing how she helped them escape their minivan when it submerged in floodwaters.
Her mother, Liz Hammond, noted that Grace was just “full of love — and always wanting to help others.” Speaking with PEOPLE, her parents revealed how the tragedy unfolded and ultimately took her life. Around 4:30 a.m. on July 15, the Hammond family left their residence in Marble Falls, Texas. Then they got inside their 2008 Honda Odyssey. The family was about to start a 10-hour drive to a Christian summer camp in the Ozarks, a place Grace and her siblings have already been to for eight summers.
“We mapped out everything. The weather systems we could see were north of us,” said the father, Matthew, noting that it was only raining lightly at that time. However, they realized that the route through Hill Country was flooded, so instead they decided to pick up a new one.
Matthew recalls, “Ten minutes later, we were going across a bridge that was always there, that wasn’t there anymore. It had collapsed.”
Dear Friends,
Just after 5 a.m. on July 5th, our beloved friends Liz and Matthew Hammond were driving through Central Texas with their three children—Surya, Khalil, and Malaya. A torrential downpour made it impossible to see that a bridge had been washed out by floodwaters.… pic.twitter.com/KkBzHgtmi4
— Mikki Willis (@MikkiWillis) July 7, 2025
However, it was already too late for the Hammond family as their minivan went into the water. The family, frightened, began singing a song about Noah’s Ark. Malaya who was a trained lifeguard and water safety instructor, was the first one to get out of the minivan. Then she helped her younger siblings as her parents escaped through the windows.
Matthew recounted, “The river is going 35 miles per hour, plus it’s just this torrent. I’ve driven this bridge more times than I can count. And it’s always dry. It’s a dry creek. So for it to have this volume of water was really shocking.”
In the midst of devastation, a young girl named Malaya Hammond became a light in the storm. During the recent Texas floods, Malaya made the ultimate sacrifice to save her family. Her bravery cost her life—but it gave her loved ones another chance.
Just after 5 a.m. on July 5th,… pic.twitter.com/1amhcF4kWt
— 👑💥 Serenity 💥👑 (@polishprincessh) July 9, 2025
The father thought that Grace could save herself as she was the strongest swimmer. However, when the family began reuniting one by one, they realized that Malaya was missing. Matthew, along with his son, Khalil, spent the entire weekend conducting a thorough search for the lost girl.
Soon, they were handed her body wrapped in cedar branches. “I honestly wanted her to wake up. I figured if Jesus could raise Lazarus, why couldn’t I raise my own daughter?” the grieving father said.
The teen is now being commemorated through her extraordinary act of bravery, her talents of dancing, singing, and painting.
