Thirteen-year-old Jessica Alpha said around 6:30 p.m. she, her cousin and her brother were swimming to reach a rope swing at Chalk Ridge Falls Park at Stillhouse Dam when they got caught in the current.
Jessica said the current, which she said she underestimated, carried her into a tree in the middle of the spillway. Her brother and cousin were carried into trees just off the bank.
Her screams drew the attention of Spec. Cory Lee Moore of the 43rd Combat Engineer Company of the 2/3 Armored Calvary Regiment of Fort Hood. Moore said he warned the children not to play in the river because the water was higher than normal and the current looked dangerous.
Moore said he was walking away when he heard the screams for help. He said he took off his shirt and hat before jumping in to rescue her. The current was stronger than even he anticipated.
“I got caught myself,” Moore said. “I thought I was going to drown.”
Moore said he was caught in a whirlpool and had to kick off his shoes in order to swim.
“All my energy was taken out and I was pulled into the brush with her [cousin and brother],” Moore said.
Moore said he tried to find a branch, but couldn’t find one. She continued to scream, telling those on shore she could not hold on any longer.
“Calm down,” Moore told her before he jumped in again.
Moore swam toward the tree when the current slammed him into it. After he got to the tree, he turned around so his back was to the current, keeping the water from going over Jessica’s head. He said he held her arms around the tree for about 45 minutes before rescuers pulled them both from the water’s grasp.
“This is the second time this has happened this month,” Charles Young, Salado fire chief, said. “They weren’t supposed to play in it.”
Young said that the spillway was open about 2 feet in an attempt to alleviate the built-up water from the recent storms in the area. Other departments that responded included Nolanville Fire Department, the Bell County Sheriff and the Corps of Engineers.
“[Moore] was keeping her cool as a cucumber,” Sharon J. Welborn-Alpha, mother of Jessica Alpha, said.
Jessica Alpha’s family points to the part of the “Warrior Ethos” attached to Moore’s dog tags he gave to her shortly after both were rescued.
”I will never leave a fallen comrade,” states the tag which shake in Jessica’s hands as they tremble the day following the near-drowning. Jessica’s family said this is one reason why they believe that Moore could not walk away.
“I was more worried about her life than mine,” Moore said. “Not everyone would have jumped in and I’m glad that I did.”
Moore admitted that he was scared and didn’t want to jump in, but felt Jessica would not have made it otherwise.
“God asked me to do this,” Moore said.
Moore said he put a Catholic medallion, given to him for luck, on his dog tags last week. The medallion was washed downstream, something Moore said was meant to be.
“At one point I was staring death in the face,” Jessica said. “It still scares me.”
ccarlisle@temple-telegram.com
