Navy Veteran Hailed A Hero For The Brave Things He Did To Save Two Individuals

News broke in California when two people were rescued near the San Juan Rapids on the American River near Sacramento. The third person did not make it. It was 30-year-old Joshua Brandon Crane. He was the one who ended up giving his life in helping the other two survive.

Rescue workers from the Sacramento Metropolitan Fire District who were sent to the area discovered afterward that Joshua Brandon Crane had seen two rafters struggling in the river, and without thinking twice, he dived in to help them.

No one knows if the two people in the rafters were wearing life jackets or not. Crane’s official cause of death has not been named yet. But reports say that Crane wasn’t wearing a life jacket at the time of the incident.

According to KXTV’s reports, the two individuals whom Crane rescued were fortunate in escaping the river. He, though, didn’t make it. Crane’s body was discovered the following day downstream of the rapids.

Talking to KXTV, Capt. Parker Wilbourn with Metro Fire of Sacramento said, “This river could potentially be unforgiving.”

Before the tragic accident, Crane was in his fourth year of medical school at the University of California, Davis School of Medicine. Crane was a member of a medical fraternity. In addition, he had also been in the Navy.

When asked about her brother during an interview with a local station, Jessica Crane described his modesty and his eagerness to lend a hand at any time. She said, “My brother was a humble guy and anybody who knew him knew he had the biggest heart ever imaginable. He would do anything, He’d give you the shirt off his back and just be there. That’s something that I knew that he would do. No matter no matter what.”

She adds, “There were two females that were stuck on tubes and my brother was on a paddleboard and they were asking for help. So he jumped off his paddleboard like he would (to) help anybody, and no hesitation, no questions asked, jumped off his paddleboard and jumped in the water and got them out.”

Jessica added, “He lived to serve and help people, and that’s who he is in a nutshell.”

Crane’s family and UC Davis will be working together to create a monument for Crane. The school posted a statement on Facebook regarding this plan. They wrote: “Our thoughts are with his family and loved ones as we support each other through this heartbreaking loss. He was an extraordinary young man devoted to helping others.”

Talking to KXTV, Crane shared, “That’s the biggest thing that gets me, is that a great life was cut short. I know he touched a lot of lives, and he made a lot of great friends and people along the way. Every minute spent with him was the best smiles and the best time, and he was my best friend, my biggest motivator, my hero. [A]nd he proved that in everything that he did.”

To help support Crane’s family, a GoFundMe has been started. They set a goal of $50,000 for the effort and it didn’t take long to reach $25,500. There’s no doubt that the goal will be reached in no time.