It started out as the perfect day.
Thirty-year-old Joy Veron, a teacher from Texas, was vacationing with her children in the gorgeous Colorado mountains. The whole trip had been practically idyllic, and the kids were just getting ready to have one more refreshing swim before making the trek home.
That’s when events took a turn for the worst.
Joy’s three young children (between ages two and seven) scurried ahead to the SUV, which was parked near the edge of a cliff—with the engine running. Within mere seconds, the vehicle shifted into gear and started to roll near the cliff’s edge, which led down to a steep canyon.
Joy’s heart immediately plummeted into her stomach.
“I just saw complete fear,” she told Oprah after the horrific event. “I remember their little eyes were huge, looking at me just like, ‘Help me, do something.'”
What this heroic mother did next has continued to move the hearts of millions across the web since that fateful day. Watch as Joy’s two daughters tell her harrowing story bit by bit. What their mom sacrificed to save these kids is astonishing and full of compassion, grace—and the fierce love of one courageous mama bear.
