According to the Sydney Morning Herald, non-swimmer Jordan Rice, 13, told rescuers to save his 10-year-old brother Blake as the family car was engulfed by a wall of water.

The paper described the heroic decision by Jordan on Monday afternoon as one that cost him his life.

Rescuer Warren McErlean said water raced through Toowoomba, rising eight inches in 10 seconds, according to a water depth gauge in the flooded street.

The two boys and their mother, Donna, 43, had been trapped by the surging floodwaters.

"When I first saw the car the water was up to the number plate," builder Mr McErlean, 37, told the paper.

"I thought I would push it backwards but by the time I walked 20 metres (65ft), it was up on the bonnet and coming up the windscreen."

Mr McErlean tied a lifeline around his waist, secured it to a post and tried to wade out to the car but the torrent pushed him downstream, nearly drowning the rescuer.

Another onlooker, identified only as Chris, pulled Mr McErlean to safety before they both attempted to reach the car again and haul teenager Jordan to safety.

But Jordan insisted his brother be first out of the car, with Chris handing him to Mr McErlean, as the force of the water risked sweeping them off their feet.

"I had the boy in one hand, the rope in the other. I wasn't going to let go but then the torrent came through and was pulling us down," Mr McErlean said.

Chris hauled Blake to dry land and the rescuers went back to try to get Jordan and his mother, but the car was swept away.

"The rope snapped and the car just flipped. The others were just gone, just disappeared," Mr McErlean said.

Jordan's father John Tyson said: "I can only imagine what was going on inside to give up his life to save his brother, even though he was petrified of water.

"He is our little hero. Jordan can't swim and is terrified of water.

"But when the man went to rescue him, he said 'save my brother first'."

http://uk.news.yahoo.com/5/20110113/twl-teen-hero-drowns-after-brother-saved-3fd0ae9.html

That's terrible...

Though... why is a 13 year old boy unable to swim?

Wow... just wow.

This. All children should have learned by then really.

They don't say whether his brother could swim. If he could, then that makes even less sense.

Did the mother die too?

I can't swim, and I'm 21.

Thats a hero right there. 

Why should he know how to swim? Other articles about this say he didn't like water and some people just don't learn. 

What makes less sense? That the boy made sure his younger brother was saved first or that a 10 year old boy might have been able to out swim a flood able to wash away a car? Don't take away from his sacrifice.

@Rob-Ot

In articles it does say the mother was trapped too.

What a selfless kid. If more people were like that kid, this would be a better world.

Knowing how to swim is an important survival skill that kids should learn. It's like knowing to dial 911. I am not taking away from his sacrifice, merely noting that swimming is something kids should learn regardless of whether they like water.