Parents Remember Camp Mystic Campers in Jenna Bush Hager Interview

The grieving parents of Camp Mystic campers who died during the Texas floods have fiercely advocated for a new bill focused on safety since the natural disaster took place on July 4. 

As they wait to see if the legislation will pass, a group of moms and dads remembered seven of the young girls in an emotional interview with Jenna Bush Hager.

“Our girls’ legacy is not that they died in vain,” Blake Bonner, dad of Lila, said during the interview that aired on Thursday, Sept. 4, which also included the parents of Hadley, Cile, Mary, Molly, Virginia and Abby. “Our girls’ legacy is that this again is a catalyst for change.” 

The children were among the 27 campers and counselors who died at the Christian all-girls’ camp during the flooding that caused the Guadalupe River to rise to historic levels, devastating the Texas Hill Country.

At a hearing in late July, the Texas House and Senate Committees heard that 137 people had died as a result of the floods, with two people still missing. Cile Steward, 8, is one of them, according to Today.

“Every phone call, every text, your heart stops because you hope it’s news that they’ve found your child,” her dad, Will Steward, told the Today with Jenna & Friends co-host.

After the storm hit on the Fourth of July weekend, stories of bravery and tragedy were shared across the country as loved ones grieved.

Camp Mystic — a childhood fixture for generations of Texan families since it opened in 1926 — became a symbol of all that was lost.

“When I dropped her off, I had told her it was the safest place on Earth,” said Lacey Hollis, the mother of Virginia.

Even as the flood waters were receding, parents like Lacey were galvanized to fight for change.

“It became very, very clear that this wasn’t an accident,” Blake said. “This was complacency and it is 100% preventable.” 

The families urged Texas lawmakers to pass Senate Bill 1, which would help improve preparedness and accountability surrounding disaster procedures at youth camps in the state, according to NBC affiliate KXAS and The Texas Tribune.

At a meeting of the Select Committee on Disaster Preparedness and Flooding on Aug. 20, families who were impacted by the flood spoke in favor of the bill, CBS affiliate KTVT reported. 

Since then, Senate Bill 1, known as the “Heaven’s 27 Camp Safety Act,” and a companion bill were passed by the Senate and the House, respectively, and are now waiting for Gov. Greg Abbott’s signature, according to KXAS. 

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“What’s being laid out in this bill should be the bare minimum for what these camps should be looking to implement,” Molly’s dad, Ryan DeWitt, told Bush Hager. The grieving dad hopes that he and his wife will never forget what Molly was like.

For the parents, it’s a way to honor the children they’ll never be able to see grow up.

Said Caitlin Bonner, Lila’s mom, “She was the heartbeat of our family.”