A New Jersey man died after leaping into dangerous waters to rescue two children from drowning in a spot where swimming is forbidden.
The incident happened at Weymouth Furnace in the Great Egg Harbor River, NBC Philadelphia reported. While the spot is popular for things like tubing and canoeing, there are signs posted around the area — both in English and Spanish — warning swimmers against entering the dangerous waters.
Police said the man, identified as 49-year-old Pablo Hernando Cruz, spotted a pair of children struggling in the river Wednesday afternoon, and then jumped into save them. He managed to get both kids safely ashore before he slipped under the water himself.
A bystander, Paul Horsey, and his son, Hunter, saw the chaos unfold, and then helped responding authorities search for Cruz in the water. The elder Horsey said they were dropping off a group of tubers before they jumped into the river in a bid to rescue him.
“Yeah, I spoke to some other people there, and they said he actually pushed the kids to where they could reach them, and so yeah, he saved them, and then he went under, and he probably couldn’t get back to the shallower water,” Paul Horsey told Fox 29.
Hunter was the one who ultimately found Cruz. He pulled him from the waters and dragged him to EMS waiting on the shoreline, who immediately started CPR. He was rushed to an area hospital, where he died a short time later.
The children, ages 8 and 12, were not seriously injured. The older child was treated at an area hospital and has since been released while the other remains at the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia.
Hunter said it was a “common occurrence” for people to struggle in the waters near the Weymouth Furnace.
“They come under the bridge; it’s rough, fast moving waters,” he said.
His father added: “It looks shallow, and it is shallow. So they think they’re wading in, and it just drops off at the end it gets deep, and they get themselves in trouble.”
