Althouse: "They had five kids. The dad gave me the two-year-old, and from that time that he gave him to me I had that son in my arms, clinging to my neck for about two hours. Two to three hours in the water. And it was crazy."

August 17, 2023

"They had five kids. The dad gave me the two-year-old, and from that time that he gave him to me I had that son in my arms, clinging to my neck for about two hours. Two to three hours in the water. And it was crazy."

Said Jubee Bedoya, quoted in "California family of seven thanks local Lahaian hero who led them into the sea and floated for three hours together on plywood as firestorm killed at least 110 people/Jubee Bedoya from Lahaina was running towards the sea last week to escape the flames when he saw a family of seven from Fresno, California, who were lost/Bedoya told them to come with him and jump into the sea: the family's two-year-old son clung to Bedoya's neck for two to three hours as they floated on plywood/All eight were eventually rescued by the Coast Guard, and the Californian family returned home: Bedoya, who lost his home, says he is happy he could help" (Daily Mail).

34 comments:

cassandra lite said...: Jubeelation.; 8/17/23, 8:14 AM
Inga said...: A true hero.; 8/17/23, 8:21 AM
phantommut said...: Sometimes humans don't suck.; 8/17/23, 8:23 AM
Dave Begley said...: Why is the Brit press so much better covering the US news than the American press?

This has been going on for a long time now.; 8/17/23, 8:42 AM
traditionalguy said...: That is what being a hero is all about. In a few seconds, making a decision to risk your convenience and safety for another young human being to live.

Think about that when abortion is the topic.; 8/17/23, 8:57 AM
Ann Althouse said...: I'd like to think everyone — absolutely *everyone* — would do what he did.; 8/17/23, 9:05 AM
Ann Althouse said...: Who would not take the 2-year-old when it is handed to you by a person who is trying to help 4 other kids? Once the 2-year-old is in your arms, who would decide now it's been too long, I'm going to let go of this child and let him sink into the waves?; 8/17/23, 9:07 AM
Big Mike said...: I'd like to think everyone — absolutely *everyone* — would do what he did.

Not anymore. You and Amanda Marcotte redefined his actions as “toxic masculinity.”

Who would not take the 2-year-old when it is handed to you by a person who is trying to help 4 other kids? Once the 2-year-old is in your arms, who would decide now it's been too long, I'm going to let go of this child and let him sink into the waves?

A male Democrat. And don’t try and tell me I’m wrong; I lived among a lot of them before I retired and moved away from the Washington, DC, suburbs.; 8/17/23, 9:21 AM
The Crack Emcee said...: Fresno is the next town over from mine.; 8/17/23, 9:21 AM
Cheryl said...: Maybe lots of people would do this, but this guy DID it. So, yeah, he’s a hero. He didn’t have to stop. He didn’t have to help. But he did and a family lived.

The situation there is terrible. Thank you for this bright light.; 8/17/23, 9:25 AM
Yancey Ward said...: Like Althouse, I would think pretty much any non-sociopath would have done this- he was also trying to save his own life after all, and it cost him nothing to tell the family follow him to the water. Holding onto the child for 2 hours in the water never endangered him either.

The word "hero" is too often overused.; 8/17/23, 9:42 AM
Alexander said...: @Althouse -

I agree to a point, but the key point is that he stopped his own running away from the fire to go out of his way to help the family he saw. Most people might very well accept the two year old being handed to them, and most people might well decide to keep holding onto the kid...

... but first, you have to stop fleeing yourself to safety and notice another family's struggle and then go and get within range of the handover. And I think very few people would do that.

That makes him a hero.; 8/17/23, 9:45 AM
tim maguire said...: Ann Althouse said...I'd like to think everyone — absolutely *everyone* — would do what he did.

90% of heroism is simply being in a position to help.; 8/17/23, 10:11 AM
Ice Nine said...: Thank god this desperate lost family happened upon a local who could, and did, guide them. "Hero"? I think not. Who wouldn't have done what he did?

We long ago grossly cheapened the value of the word "hero." When anyone who does something kind to another person - as anyone else would obviously do - and is therefore labeled a hero, what word is left to describe an actual hero?; 8/17/23, 10:12 AM
Rusty said...: Ann Althouse said...
"I'd like to think everyone — absolutely *everyone* — would do what he did."
I would like to think so too, but real life often intervenes and people act out of self preservation or/and selfishness. It's human nature.; 8/17/23, 10:13 AM
TaeJohnDo said...: Did the family try to blend in with the locals? Did they follow the NYT's etiquette and norms, or do they get a pass because Hawaii is a part of the US? I suppose in Hawaii it is OK to wear flip-flops and shorts. But certainly NOT cargo shorts!

Good on Jubee Bedoya, an everyday hero.; 8/17/23, 10:20 AM
cfs said...: This family and a stranger working together saved each other. I would cling to that two-year old until all hope was gone for the both of us and still refuse to let go. I believe that is what most people would do.; 8/17/23, 10:29 AM
Static Ping said...: I can assure you that not everyone would do what he did. I think the large majority of people would do what he did if physically able, but there are extremely selfish people, mentally damaged people, and extremely panicked people that would not. When the Titanic went down, there were many stories of the men (and women) bravely facing death to save others, and a few men who were willing to do whatever was necessary to save their own skin.

Nice to see that someone ignored the experts and managed to live. Wasn't going in the ocean to avoid the fire a mistake? The experts said so!; 8/17/23, 10:35 AM
Tom T. said...: I don't know the situation with the other four kids, or what the father's own needs were. Still, I would be terrifying to have to entrust my two-year-old's life to a stranger for all that time.

I agree with Ann that I think anyone would hold on to the child to the best of their ability. I just wouldn't know what the stranger's ability is, or if he's on the verge of collapsing. I'd want contact with my child.

I'm writing this from safety with no knowledge of whatever else the father was having to do to keep all of his kids safe, and I'm not being critical at all. I'm just saying that it would have been really scary to have to do that.

God bless this guy for coming through when strength was needed.; 8/17/23, 10:53 AM
GrapeApe said...: People will instinctively protect children. The guy helped with the toddler for some hours. Good for him.; 8/17/23, 11:14 AM
Dagwood said...: "I'd like to think everyone — absolutely *everyone* — would do what he did."

You mean the way everyone always helps whenever someone is assaulted on an urban street or subway?; 8/17/23, 11:49 AM
Inga said...: Why not call a person who does a heroic act a hero? Even if most humans would do what this person did, it’s a heroic act. It’s unseemly to try to diminish the act of a human that saves another human even if it’s just to lend a pair of arms in a disaster.; 8/17/23, 11:59 AM
BUMBLE BEE said...: GLOBAL WARMING!

https://legalinsurrection.com/2023/08/resort-workers-video-may-have-captured-start-of-mauis-deadly-wildfire/

Seem like alarmist BS but, The first sound to the microphone wins!; 8/17/23, 12:13 PM
n.n said...: New Orleans, revisited.; 8/17/23, 12:33 PM
boatbuilder said...: "I'd like to think everyone — absolutely *everyone* — would do what he did."

"Isn't it pretty to think so."; 8/17/23, 12:37 PM
Fred Drinkwater said...: People will NOT "instinctively" protect children.
People must be acculturated into that behavior. Or out of it, as the case may be.; 8/17/23, 12:37 PM
Mason G said...: "People will instinctively protect children."

Once they're born. Before that, all bets are off.; 8/17/23, 1:11 PM
donald said...: Let’s be honest. This is Hawaii. It is quite possible that one of the locals took the opportunity to kill a tourist. If you’ve been there you know it’s possible.; 8/17/23, 2:04 PM
Narayanan said...: "I'd like to think everyone — absolutely *everyone* — would do what he did."
========
shall we ask the question to > First Citizen FJB : bolnd lifeguard at swimming pool; 8/17/23, 3:51 PM
Yancey Ward said...: "Why not call a person who does a heroic act a hero? Even if most humans would do what this person did, it’s a heroic act. It’s unseemly to try to diminish the act of a human that saves another human even if it’s just to lend a pair of arms in a disaster."

What is described isn't an heroic act, Inga. In the same situation, I would have done exactly the same as he did and it would embarrass me to be called a hero for doing so, and it probably embarrasses him, too. There was no courage involved here. You can call him a decent human being for not ignoring their plight, but decent is not synonymous with courageous.; 8/17/23, 5:16 PM
The Godfather said...: On 9/11 I was working in an office building in Washington, DC, when the planes hit the Twin Towers and the Pentagon (the Pentagon was just across the river; you could see the smoke rising from the far side of that building). After the shock, most of us decided to go home. So did a lot of other folks who worked in downtown DC. The street outside the exit from the parking garage for our building was strangled with traffic. A young guy who worked for the parking contractor would go out into the street from time to time to stop traffic so a few folks in the garage could get out. I remember one woman driver in the street outside who told him if he got in her way, she'd run him down.; 8/17/23, 5:55 PM
Oligonicella said...: Ann Althouse said...
"I'd like to think everyone — absolutely *everyone* — would do what he did."

Bless your heart.; 8/17/23, 6:22 PM
Bunkypotatohead said...: I don't think Hunter Biden would have done anything but continue fleeing.; 8/17/23, 11:39 PM
Valentine Smith said...: I am not sure that many people here have had their life immediately threatened in any way let alone, 60 mile an hour winds, and the rampaging fire. How high were the tides? How long is it before plywood saturates? What was the level of panic among the children?

The guy was a fucking hero.; 8/18/23, 3:43 AM