On a normal fall Thursday, Aldine football player Jayden Payne would be gearing up for Friday’s opponent. But on September 19, 2019, Payne had no time to prepare for something that would forever change his life – and forever save two more.

Payne had recently been picked up from school and was waiting in the Aldi’s parking lot near campus when he heard a sudden scream from his mother. She, Jayden and Jayden’s brother witnessed a SUV drive into a ditch filled with flooded water.

Payne reacted immediately, ditching his phone, jacket, and ID to run to the rescue of a mother, Vinnita Williams, and her two-year-old daughter, Ava.

Payne wasn’t the only one to witness the car crash. However, he was the only one to react initially.

“Everybody was just recording, and I was like, wow, nobody's actually trying to help,” Payne said. “So, I just ran over there.

“It was just adrenaline rushing through me. I was ready to get in there and save her. I wasn’t scared in the moment; I wasn't thinking about the current or how fast the water was pushing. All that was in my head was determination to get her and her baby out of the water.”

When Williams began to slide into the ditch, she didn’t think much of it at first.

“The first thing I thought was ‘Oh crap, I hit a pothole,’” she said.

It wasn’t until after she was unable to open her door due to the surrounding water when panic ensued.

“The car started to rock a little bit,” Williams said. “That's when I was like, ‘Oh, my God, I hope I'm not in a ditch or anything.’ That's when I immediately went to my baby and grabbed her and started banging on the door again and banging on the window. That's when I said a prayer, and I don't know, I guess God did it. God saved me. But the door opened, like I said. The door opened.”

When Williams finally was able to open the door, she expected to step outside of the car and stand up. Instead, she was shocked by the deepness of the water and fell completely under. Williams didn’t know how to swim, leaving her and her daughters’ fate in the hands of Payne.

Payne jumped into the water, and with the help of two bystanders, was able to lift Williams and Ava out of the ditch. After rescuing them, Payne stayed with the survivors to help ease the tension and calm their nerves. Williams and Ava were sobbing.

“Some people were recording, but he was the one who literally jumped in there and lifted me,” Williams said. “I don't know how he did it, but he did it. And that's why I said he's my guardian angel.”

For Williams, the decision was life-saving, and the act of courage by Payne was an action from God. For Payne, it was almost routine – simply because it was the right thing to do.

“If I was in that situation, I would want somebody to help me,” Payne said. “At that moment, it opened my eyes to see how actually reality is. How people would rather pull out their phone and record than save somebody in that moment. And whenever I was in that moment, I was just thinking ‘No, I'm not going to let this happen. I'm not going to let someone die in front of me. I'm not going to pull out my phone and be like the rest of the world. I’m going to go save them.’”

Payne’s heroic act gained traction quickly. Within minutes of arriving at home, news stations were already asking to speak with him.

This is when Payne realized his offensive coordinator, Louis Horton, snapped a photo of him holding the toddler outside of the water after the event.

This photo of Payne and Ava, along with additional ones, were sent to Aldine head coach Hank Semler and promptly uploaded to twitter.

By the end of the day, multiple stories were published online describing Payne’s act of courage. The publicity even landed Payne a text from Houston Texans’ quarterback Deshaun Watson, resulting in him attending a Texans game, meeting some of the players, going on to the field and snapping photos.

“The whole experience was funny because I always wanted to be a football player,” Payne said. “Being on the NFL field and meeting NFL players and shaking [their] hand…that was the best moment of my life.”

The end of September proved to be one of the most eventful times of Payne’s life. When the dust all settled, Payne didn’t stop caring for the Williams family.

About three weeks ago, Payne went to visit Ava and Vinnita at their family reunion. Nearly two years after the event, Payne’s relationship with the Williams family remains strong, especially with Ava.

“After it happened, they started hanging out,” Vinnita said. “[Ava] will go over and hang out with him for a little while, and we’ll talk on the phone. Every time I see him, me and my daughter squeeze him tight.”

Payne plans to attend Wisconsin Lutheran College in Milwaukee, WI and play football there. As for the Williams family, Ava still distinctly remembers what Payne did for them on that late September afternoon.

“My now four year-old still remembers to this day,” Vinnita said. “I have to ride past that same bayou to take her to and from daycare, and she's like, ‘Mommy, that's the water! The water!’ She’ll say ‘bottle’ because she remembered that she left her bottle in the car. Every time I ride past there, she’s like ‘Water! Water! Bottle!’”

It’s a moment they’re still able to have thanks to the quick thinking of her guardian angel.