17-Year-Old Malaya Hammond Dies Saving Family From Flooded Car

Malaya Hammond, 17, her parents, her two younger siblings and a family friend left their Marble Falls-area home to head to summer camp early on July 5.

It was 5 a.m. and dark as the family hit the road to head to a Christian summer camp in Missouri, one the whole family has attended for years, family friend Mikki Willis told the American-Statesman. Crossing a bridge, the driving rains plunged the family minivan into the raging creek. Malaya was the one who opened the car door, which had been stuck, allowing everyone to escape, Willis said.

Malaya and her little sister both fell into the creek, and while her sister found dry ground, Malaya was swept away, Willis said.

Malaya was one of four people Burnet County officials said died related to floods that devastated Central Texas over the Independence Day weekend.

Willis, who has known the Hammonds for years, described Malaya as a role model for her two siblings and for his own children.

"She was just very consistently loving and kind," Willis said. "She was destined to do really great things. She was very concerned about the state of our world."

He said Malaya was home-schooled, artistic, musical and kind. She loved being in nature and dancing, and had been studying to be a lifeguard, Willis said.

In a video shared with the Statesman, her father, Matthew Hammond, said his daughter was loving and intentional.

"She believed that you don’t buy a card," Hammond said in the video. "You paint a card. Everything she did was a work of art."

Like her parents, she was a musician and was a beautiful singer, Hammond said.

"Her ability to harmonize, I think, matched her ability to (connect) with others," Hammond said.

She thought often about making the world better, Willis said.

"She was very concerned about all the division and hate, and she very often spoke about the power of love," he said.

Malaya, like her whole family, was interested in community service and helping those around her.

"This is one of the purest-hearted families we've ever known," Willis said.

The Hammonds spent days searching for their daughter. When they found her, they created a makeshift cross to place beside the spot along Cow Creek Road.

In the video, Hammond said he’ll devote the rest of his life to sharing his daughter's values and principles.