It was difficult for Libby Sanders to recall the moment she almost lost her child last year during extreme weather in Tennessee.
The terrifying moments happened on August 21, 2021, when a record-breaking 17 inches of rain poured down on citizens in Waverly, Tennessee, Fox Weather reported Sunday.
Video footage showed the devastated town after the water rushed through the area.
Outside Sanders’ home at the time, the flood overtook her car and eventually shoved its way inside the house while she and her then-eight-year-old son, Madden, tried to figure out how to escape.
In a social media post that day, the woman shared images of the waters rising outside the house.
However, when the home began collapsing Sanders knew they had to get out as fast as possible and made a plan to keep her child afloat.
She grabbed the biggest stuffed animal she could find and told him to hold on and not let go. However, the water pulled her underneath the surface and took Madden out of reach.
“The last thing I had heard from him was him screaming, ‘Mommy!’ at me as [the flood] took me under,” she explained.
After being pushed a mile away, Sanders was able to get onto dry land. While looking for help, she bumped into some friends and the group formed a search party.
Hours passed before the child was found sitting on a shed not far from their home where a citizen named Mark Bohannon rescued him.
On Sunday, Madden was baptized, and the date would never be forgotten because it was the anniversary of the events that took the lives of 20 people.
Sanders posted photos from the church service, writing, “My heart is full knowing now that all my kids are now saved and baptized!”
Meanwhile, Sanders wanted their experience to encourage others during hard times.
“I feel like maybe if they see stories of hope, it’ll give them hope,” she commented, adding, “You know, it takes a while, but as long as you get community behind you, you can make it.”