A 21-year-old man drowned while trying to save a teenage girl struggling to stay afloat in a North Texas lake, an hour after she was baptized.
Rincah Lopez had just been baptized in Lake Waxahachie on Saturday afternoon when the little girl began drowning around 12:45 p.m., Lopez's family said. He told WFAA.
Lopez quickly jumped in to try and help her, but she too began to struggle in the water. Waxahachie Police Department.
A boater pulled the girl from the lake and administered CPR, regaining consciousness, and took her and Mr. Lopez to a local hospital, where Mr. Lopez was pronounced dead.
“He was a hero,” Lopez's uncle, Jacobo Lopez, told WFAA in Spanish.
“He didn't hesitate to rescue others, he didn't consider the risk that he might die, and he risked his own life to save the lives of others,” he added.
Lopez and the girl were part of a large church group from Garland that had been enjoying the lake after a number of baptisms.
The 21-year-old was so excited about being baptized that he couldn't sleep the night before, his uncle said.
Boater Jacob Bell, who pulled the girl from the lake and performed CPR, was still shaken after saving her life.
“It still hasn't sunk in. It's hard,” he told WFAA.
Bell told the outlet that she could not imagine the pain Lopez's family is going through, as her own brother drowned when he was three years old.
“He was a hero. He had just been baptized and given his life to the Lord. Our family will be praying for his family and we will be praying for the little girl's family,” Bell said.
“He was a strong boy and they should be very proud of him.”
Lopez's family said he worked in construction and sent money home to his parents and siblings, who still lived in Mexico. Started a GoFundMe campaign To raise funds to send his body.
Waxahachie is located about 30 miles south of Dallas in North Texas.
