The video is a portion of the talk, “To my son: This is what a man is” given by Rev. Andrew Forrest. His words are as true and applicable today as they were June 17, 2018, when he gave this talk to the people at his Methodist church in Dallas, Texas.
Rev. Forrest certainly wanted his son (and all the others in his church) to grow up to be a good Christian man. That is why he used Tom Vander Woude as his role model. Many others have pointed to Tom, not only as a role model but also as a mentor and good friend when in need.
On September 8, 2008, Tom and two men that generally helped him around the farm, were taking down an above-ground pool for the winter. When Tom heard a scream, he immediately ran toward the sound of his 20-year-old son’s voice. While running toward the scream, Tom told one of the workmen to call 911. Upon reaching the area of the scream, Tom saw that the metal plate covering an old septic tank was laying sideways off the 2 X 2-foot opening to the large tank. The tank was some 8 to 10 feet deep and Tom’s youngest son, Joseph (known as Josie) was trying to keep his head above the sewage. Tom knew that unless he acted quickly, his son would either die from the lack of oxygen due to the toxic gases in the tank or drown in the sewage.
Tom crawled down into the septic tank and got under Josie and began to lift him upward toward fresh air. The methane and other toxic gases were strong, with almost no fresh air to breath below the opening. Tom yelled up to one of the men that followed him toward the screams of help: “You pull, and I’ll push”. Tom was lifting Josie as high as he could, but the workman wasn’t able to pull Josie out of the tank.
Tom’s wife, Mary Ellen, came running out toward the tank after calling 911 but really couldn’t help the workman lift Josie or Tom out. She had to watch as Tom kept pushing and holding Josie upward toward fresh air as he began to sink into the sewage. It took the EMT crew some 15 to 20 minutes to arrive and then get Josie out of the tank. Unfortunately, Tom had died while freely and lovingly offering up his life so that his son could live.