The father of a missing 1-year-old boy presumed to have died in a flash flood in Carbon County Sunday night will be joining searchers today in their efforts to find his son.
Jayden Seal's mother, Courtney, meanwhile, made her first public comments Thursday about the accident and how her family was coping with the tragedy.
Jayden Seal was swept away when a 20-foot wall of water hit the Ford Bronco he and his family were riding in near Garley's Canyon on Sunday. His brother, 5-year-old Levi, also died following the accident.
Jayden's parents, Josh and Courtney Seal, and his 2-year-old sister, Brooklynn, suffered non-life-threatening injuries. Brooklynn was flown to Primary Children's Medical Center in Salt Lake City, where she was in fair condition in the intensive care unit Thursday. Her parents have been by her side ever since the accident.
Brooklynn has a breathing tube in her mouth but otherwise is "doing really well," Courtney Seal said. Her fluid-filled lungs were giving Brooklynn the most problem, but she was alert and able to communicate with her parents, Courtney said.
Although she wore sunglasses to hide her tears, she couldn't hide her emotion as she thanked the searchers working to find her son and as she recounted the horrific incident.
Courtney Seal said the family was on a Sunday night drive on a dirt road they had driven hundreds of times in the past. They were crossing the wash when the wall of water hit their vehicle without warning. Their car was swept along by the rushing water and kept bouncing off the sides of the canyon, she said.
She unbuckled everyone's seat belts in case they needed to make a quick exit from the car.
"The Bronco tumbled and flipped on its side a few times," she said. "It seemed like forever."
At one point she said it looked like they were going to ride it out and make it. The next moment, however, all she remembers is floating outside the vehicle and seeing Brooklynn floating down river.
"I looked up and there's Brooklynn floating on her back," she said. "I swam as hard as I could to get to her. She held on so tight."
Then, Courtney Seal said, it was a miracle they were able to make it to the bank of the river, "like someone pulled us to the side."
She eventually found her husband, but neither knew where their other two children were. Rescuers reached the family about 20 minutes later, she said. As Josh and Brooklynn were taken to the hospital, Courtney watched as seven men, including her father, Randy Bishop, made their way through the rushing current to the smashed Bronco.
Bishop said he and others had to tip the Bronco and put wood underneath to support it. He was then able to open up the driver's side door. Water rushed in as soon as it was opened, washing away some of the silt that had built up. That's when Bishop said he saw Levi's foot, grabbed it and pulled him out.
"I stood and watched them do CPR for 2 1/2 hours, and they finally got a heartbeat," Courtney Seal said. "The first few hours his heart rate was doing good."
But Levi's blood pressure soon began to drop fast, she said, and his condition grew increasingly worse.
"We didn't want to see our son like that. Levi wouldn't want to be like that . . . so we took him off life support," Courtney Seal said, fighting back tears.
Josh Seal watched Thursday's press conference from a distance, not wanting to speak to reporters. He could be seen burying his face in his hands as Courtney Seal's Courtney's parents consoled him.
Courtney Seal recalled how Levi was "so smart," and how Jayden was the daredevil of the family. Now the simple things the boys were told not to do that they would occasionally get in trouble for are the things Courtney Seal Courtney said she most wanted to see again.
"I'm going to miss it all," she said.
Courtney Seal said she thought the funeral for Levi would be Tuesday. She hoped that Jayden's body would be recovered by then so he could also be put to rest.
"I would like to find my 1-year-old son so we can do it together," she said.
The search, however, has been extremely difficult. Bad weather has made a tough search even tougher for weary crews wading through the mud and debris in the river.
Courtney Seal said she hasn't even thought about the possibility yet of not finding Jayden's body.
"I'm not prepared . . . that that's just leaves too much unanswered and no closure for me. I'm not prepared to not find him," she said.
A trust fund has been set up for the Seal family. Donations can be made at Washington Federal Savings in Price, 435-637-3448.
E-mail: preavy@desnews.com