Hurricane Harvey’s many victims

HOUSTON, Texas, United States (AP) — One man used his last words to save a friend’s life, warning him away from a live electrical wire. Another died checking on his uncle. Several others were last seen helping people out of floodwaters.

They’re among Harvey victims who lost their lives trying to save other people. Others died doing their best to survive the catastrophic disaster.

They range from 6 years old to 89. Their stories are emerging as the death toll from the storm continues to mount.

Twenty-five-year-old Andrew Pasek was on a mission to check on his be- loved older sister’s cat when he stepped on a live electrical wire in ankle-deep water Tuesday, his parents said through sobs Thursday.

Pasek then fell into the lamppost attached to the live wire. Pasek’s friend moved closer to help, but Pasek warned him away.

“He said, ‘Don’t touch me. I’m dying,’” according to his mother, JoDell Pasek, who lost her other son to a drunken driver in the 1990s.

Al Pasek said his son was “a remarkable young man” who was always rescuing animals that needed a home and even once saved his own father’s life when he choked on a piece of food and couldn’t breathe for more than a minute.

“This is absolutely devastating,” Al Pasek said of his son’s death.

Al and JoDell Pasek want to scatter their son’s ashes at Mount Rushmore, where they had long planned to take a family trip. “Maybe we’ll still take that family trip,” a tearful JoDell said.