A 14-year-old Montana rancher-in-training says God put him in the right place at the right time after he used the cowboy skills he'd spent months practicing to lasso and rescue a drowning man from the Yellowstone River following a rafting accident.
Jory Thomas was camping with his family near Greycliff, Montana, on July 5 when they heard someone screaming for help.
"We all heard, 'Help, help,'" Thomas told camping trip before.
"My first instinct, I thought, was try and rope him and drag him out before he gets too far down the river," Thomas said. "Luckily, I caught him first try."
Thomas pulled the man toward shore through chest-deep water until first responders arrived.
The teenager said he'd only started taking roping seriously this year while helping with cattle on the family ranch, telling the station that his skills improving the more he roped cattle.
Thomas said he believes his faith guided him to act.
"God was basically putting me in the place of all this," he said. "God was just telling me all of this at the time and saying, 'Go get him, you got it, and I believe in you.'"
He later reflected that he never expected the same skills he learned on the ranch would save a person's life.
"I just thought I could help with cattle," Thomas said. "Not really helping humans and stuff like that. But I'm glad I was here to help."
The Sweet Grass County Sheriff's Office later honored Thomas with a Certificate of Achievement. Sheriff Alan Ronneberg and Undersheriff Ron Swanson recognized the teen for rescuing the man near Pelican Fishing Access.
"Well done, Jory!" the sheriff's office wrote in a social media post.