“TAKE my brother first.”

These were the final words spoken by a shy 13-year-old boy: my son, Jordan, while trapped in the 2011 Queensland floods.

When help arrived, Jordan’s first thought was not of himself. It was of his younger brother Blake, then just 10.

They must’ve been terrified. Jordan couldn’t swim; gushing water and chaos surrounded him. He could’ve panicked but instead he helped rescuers Warren and Chris, civilians like you and I, reach the car.

Jordan was closest and time was almost up, so they grabbed for him to take him to safety. Instead he pushed them away and clearly instructed them to take his little brother first. Moments later, Jordan and my wife were swept away to their deaths.

It hasn’t been an easy journey. Life takes many turns. This one, for me, was the cruellest.

But through that devastation, I kept returning to one thought about Jordan. Perhaps I was wrong about him. Perhaps he wasn’t shy: perhaps “shy” was a label that didn’t really fit someone who took those actions, who said those four words.

He was scared of water and the dark and we’d joke that he was a “sook.” He was quiet, yes. But he was tough. He was the toughest fella I’ll ever meet in my life.

I remember discussing my boys with a friend while watching them play. He asked who I thought the toughest was; I said Jordan. He laughed and fobbed it off. A few weeks later he proved it.

Tough isn’t always loud and brash and brazen. Tough is sometimes four words quietly but firmly spoken by a boy who couldn’t swim as water threatened to submerge him. Everyone can be tough when the need arises.

Hundreds of thousands of people agreed he was tough. I know because they signed the petition I started on Change.org to properly acknowledge Jordan’s bravery and honour his final act.

I never initially pursued anything to commemorate my son. In the cloud of my grief, things like medals and naming parks after him were just words at the time. But as the years rolled by, I came to realise how important this was to me.

I started the petition because the Australian Bravery Awards Council rang me and told me Jordan had been rejected for a bravery award he’d been nominated for. It was like a kick in the guts.

How could they weep at his death and move on with so many empty gestures? These are human beings at the end of their emptiness. Since when have you heard of a braver boy than Jordan?

The comments below the petition were heart-warming and inspiring. Getting the bravery award for my boy became a mission for people, and for me.

I was given this platform, and it became a battle of right and wrong to me. I always thought, how are the other poor buggers (from the floods) going? Sadly some were taking their lives because of the devastation of the floods. It became their fight too.

I couldn’t be there for my Jordan, who couldn’t swim, when he had to make that fateful decision and close off all his fear and do something astonishing. So as a dad, it was only fair, only right, that I fought for him, for something in reality he would’ve been too shy to accept. As the petition kept growing and growing, I was shocked - and buoyed to fight harder.

Tony Abbott had the opportunity to make this happen, make a Captain’s Call like he had done for others. After all, he stood up in Parliament and said Jordan was “emblematic of the Australian spirit” and that Jordan deserved the highest civilian bravery award. But then the politicians seemed to forget him. They were just empty words.

But more than 300,000 Australians are hard to ignore. That’s how many signed my petition - and I’m overwhelmed today to announce that we’ve finally won - this is the biggest victory in Change.org’s history in Australia.

Today, Jordan Lucas Rice, will be presented with a Bravery Medal at Government House, Brisbane. Proud to represent the people, I will gladly accept this on behalf of all that made this happen. It feels for me, like a victory for the common man, the little guy.

I can’t really find the words, so I’ve chosen to act instead. I learnt from Jordan that your actions must meet your words. Something our politicians should learn from Jordan, but unfortunately have not.

I’ve set up the Jordan Rice Foundation because no-one should have to fall by the wayside. The Bravery Medal is just the beginning of the legacy my Jordan will leave on this earth.

The goal of the Foundation is to open a retreat - Jordan Rice House - where families who’ve suffered loss are able to re-charge, reminisce and restore. We also aim to roll out a First Responder Safety Program, focusing on educational resources about child safety.

I’ve fought through hell, but I’m still here. I lost half of my family that day, and most of my heart. But I want to thank everyone who signed my petition for my son and helped me honour him in the appropriate way. Our journey hasn’t been easy, but I’ve learnt you can trust the word of the public far more than you can the word of politicians.

I owe it to those 306,000 people and to Jordan, recipient of the Bravery Medal, to pay it forward. Let Jordan inspire you, as he does me, and thousands of others. Tell his story and show that bravery comes in all volumes, all ages and all forms.