Bert Ramon, a 24-year veteran, was pictured ferrying desperate survivors, many of them children, to safety from their flooded homes
A Houston police officer helped save more than 1,000 people during Hurricane Harvey despite fighting stage four colon cancer.
Bert Ramon, a 24-year veteran, was pictured ferrying desperate survivors, many of them children, to safety from their flooded homes.
Ramon, who is thought to have saved nearly 1,500 people, said he was determined to work as usual to send a signal to his wife that he was ‘ok’.
He told CBS News’ David Begnaud: ‘That’s me giving a thumbs up that I’m OK. Don’t let everybody worry about me.
‘God answered my prayer. It came out of this flood.
‘I hope I can inspire other cancer patients that you know don’t let this hold you back. If you feel strong, don’t let it take over your life at all.’
The officer, who also worked on Hurricanes Alison and Rita, said Harvey was ‘just unreal’.
The homes of 400 hundred officers were destroyed during Harvey, but they remained on duty.
One of Ramon’s colleagues drowned in his car while driving to work in Houston.
Ramon, who is thought to have saved nearly 1,500 people, is pictured ferrying survivors across flood waters
Sgt Steve Perez, 60, found himself trapped in torrents of water at Interstate 45 and the Hardy Toll Road.
Search and rescue crews were able to recover Perez’s body from his flooded vehicle.
At least 60 people have died as a result of Hurricane Harvey, according to emergency management departments across southeast Texas.
Many of those deaths were people drowning in flash floods or water-logged roads.
A boat load of Texas Rangers helps a man look for his drone after it crashed into flood waters left by rains from Hurricane Harvey in the west Houston