WESLACO- A Rio Grande Valley native has become a hero for many in Pearland in the wake of Hurricane Harvey.

Jamie Valdez is a former Harlingen high school south linebacker. He was a tenacious defender and a key player for the Hawks.

This week, he's been on the offensive, rushing to save lives in the wake of Hurricane Harvey.

"(I’m) just trying to make it to as many people as we can. It's bad, you don't realize it until your actually here," Valdez said.

Valdez lives in Pearland now. It's a suburb 15 miles outside of downtown Houston. The area was devastated by Hurricane Harvey.

He said his family was unharmed, so they decided to rescue those in need.

"We rescued a blind man who couldn't walk. We had to carry him out. We had to bust down a door to get an old lady out. She had storm shutters on, so we couldn't get in so we had to breach the door, and break the locks off with an axe," Valdez told CHANNEL 5 NEWS.

Valdez explained he and his wife are working side by side with first responders. They begin their rescues at sunrise and don't quit until sunset.

"We are going to have to go. We got to go do one more rescue down the street," Valdez said.

He explained the flooding in Pearland started to subside a bit. 

In the meantime, Valdez said he and his wife will continue their rescues until they are no longer needed.