Man drowns trying to save his sleepy father, who fell in a Georgia lake, cops say
.jpg "A Georgia man drowned trying to save his father, who fell off a boat.")
A father-son fishing trip on Memorial Day ended tragically after a man drowned trying to save his father, who had fallen off a boat, the Troup County Sheriff’s Office said.
Just before 12:30 a.m. deputies were sent to West Point Lake, near LaGrange, after reports of a drowning, as Jeremiah Israel jumped into the water to save his 64-year-old father, the Sheriff’s Office said in a Facebook post.
After tying the boat to a bridge, the father fell asleep, the LaGrange Daily News reported. When he woke, the father was disoriented, believed he was home and got up to go to the bathroom, causing him to fall into the lake, according to the newspaper.
Although his brother said Israel “can’t swim,” he jumped into the water after his father, per WSB.
The 34-year-old Jonesboro, Georgia, man never resurfaced, NBC News reported.
Other boaters in the area saw the incident and were able to pull the father from the lake, the Sheriff’s Office said. He was taken to an area hospital and has been released, according to the post.
Even with assistance from other rescue agencies, Israel’s body was not recovered for more than 10 hours, according to the Sheriff’s Office.
Although the Sheriff’s Office called Israel’s death “a tragic accidental drowning,” it is being investigated by the Georgia Department of Natural Resources, per the post.
Israel worked for Delta Air Lines, which said “his work family is heartbroken,” WSB reported.
This story was originally published May 28, 2019 at 8:35 PM with the headline "Man drowns trying to save his sleepy father, who fell in a Georgia lake, cops say."
