12-year-old Skyler Derrington survived the devastating flooding at Camp Mystic in Texas, a tragedy that took the lives of over 130 people. After her harrowing experience, Skyler appeared on “Fox & Friends” and performed an inspiring version of Leonard Cohen’s “Hallelujah” that honored all of those who perished in the floods.
For background, on July 4, 2025, torrential downpours led the Guadalupe River in Central Texas to break its banks, leading to extreme flash flooding that struck Camp Mystic, a private Christian summer camp for girls, leading to the untimely deaths of at least 27 campers and counselors. Skyler Derrington, who was evacuated alongside other campers, rewrote the lyrics to “Hallelujah” to focus on the tragedy and performed it beautifully on live TV.
Explaining her song to the “Fox & Friends” hosts, Skyler said that she wrote it “in honor of all of the girls at our camp, for those that we just lost, to honor them and to remember that God has a plan for all of us.” She added, “Even though rough stuff can happen sometimes, that doesn’t normally happen. There was no blame or fault. Its purpose was to tell and to honor them, and to sing and remind people what happened.”
In addition, Skyler’s mom, Lacey, who helped with the writing of the lyrics, said that creating the song was “very emotional and healing, like song therapy.” She continued, “It was getting it all out. We just had a sad day that day, and it just felt like this beautiful release. It was just a beautiful tribute, I thought.”
When Skyler sang her rendition of “Hallelujah,” she made the brave decision to go without any musical accompaniment, adding to the impact of her original words. She sang: “I heard there was a giant flood / But we were washed in Jesus’ blood,” later adding, “They say the water overcame / But I will never forget their names / No blame, no fault, so really what’s it to ya? / We are a part of Mystic’s heart / We spread His light, His love, His word / The holy and the broken, hallelujah.”
After Skyler’s performance, Skyler shared with the “Fox & Friends” hosts that she wanted to be like Christian vocalist Lauren Daigle, saying, “I just like how her songs are really unique and how she spreads the word of God.” She added, “It’s really beautiful and I love all her songs.” Skyler’s words brought host Ainsley Earhardt to tears.
Then, Skyler was caught by surprise when Daigle herself appeared onstage. Daigle explained that she had instantly become a fan of Skyler when a video of her “Hallelujah” cover was posted online. She told Skyler, “You have such a beautiful voice. You did awesome.”
Daigle went on to encourage Skyler in the wake of the tragic flood, saying, “Here’s the beautiful thing: tragedy happens in so many people’s lives—and what you experienced was unbelievable, but you took a tragedy and you turned it into something incredible. You turned it into something beautiful.”
Watch Skyler’s performance:
🚨 JUST IN: A 12-year-old girl who survived the Camp Mystic, Texas floods just sang a rendition of “Hallelujah” on Fox News this morning.
Amazing.pic.twitter.com/tokeX8Hp7h
— Eric Daugherty (@EricLDaugh) July 29, 2025
Featured image credit: video screengrab