HILDALE, Utah (AP) – A young survivor remembered his heart “whacking like a jackhammer” in the moments before a flash flood swept he and his family away nearly two weeks ago.
Joseph Jessop Jr. spoke Saturday during a rare public memorial service hosted by two often-secretive polygamous towns on the Utah-Arizona border.
He said he knows the “heavenly father wanted this to happen,” adding that he’s “grateful for the experience.”
Jessop’s mothers – Josephine Jessop and Naomi Jessop and his aunt, Della Black – perished with 10 of their children in the Sept. 14 flood. That number includes one boy who remains missing.
The neighboring towns of Hildale, Utah, and Colorado City, Arizona, hosted the afternoon memorial service at the top of a canyon road in Maxwell Park, a landscaped area surrounded by rich red rock canyon walls, attracting a few hundred people, including Utah Gov. Gary Herbert.