A Virginia father jumped into a septic tank to save his son🇻🇦 He never came back up. Now the Catholic Church is taking a major step toward declaring him a saint. Tom Vander Woude was a farmer, Navy veteran, husband, and father of seven sons in Nokesville, Virginia. On September 8, 2008, the feast of the Nativity of Mary, his youngest son, Joseph “Josie,” who has Down syndrome, fell through a collapsed cover into a 7-foot septic tank. Tom didn’t hesitate. He climbed in after him, held Josie above the sewage and toxic fumes, and shouted to a worker above: “You pull, I’ll push.” Josie lived. Tom, 66, died there. This week, the Diocese of Arlington announced that his sainthood cause is moving into the official information-gathering stage. Bishop Michael Burbidge said Vander Woude’s last act was “the culmination of a Christian life marked by faith, charity, humility, fortitude, and generous service to others.” His son Chris put it simply: not a day goes by without missing Dad, but watching that story still inspire people is a consolation.