Father Missing After Diving Into River To Save Drowning 1-Year-Old Son
An old high school friend once told me how, when his brother was little, they almost lost him in the ocean. His family truly enjoyed the outdoors and would go deep-sea fishing.
Well, while his dad was rigging up the rods, the brother leaned too far over the edge and went into the drink. The sight so upset my friend (who was also pretty young) that it took him several blubbering moments to tell his father what had happened.
Fortunately, that story ended well, and the quick-thinking dad went into the water to snatch up his son. But as a story out of Isleton, California, reminds us, bodies of water can prove particularly perilous to children — and the adults who try to save them.
According to KTXL, 41-year-old Moua Lo had planned what he hoped would be a fun family fishing trip. He’d taken his three children to the San Joaquin River on March 29.
However, their time on the boat that took them out into the river soon turned terrifying. At one point during the trip, Lo’s 1-year-old son Marcus somehow fell over the railing.
The family of the missing father of three tells me their loved one is 41-year-old Moua Lo of Stockton. He and his 1-year-old son Marcus are pictured below. Marcus is in critical condition at UC Davis Medical Center after falling overboard during a family fishing trip. @FOX40 pic.twitter.com/iavcKIyOWD
— Bridgette Bjorlo (@bridgettebjorlo) March 31, 2019
Marcus had a life jacket on, but the chilly water was about 50 degrees Fahrenheit. Lo immediately dove into the water to save his son.
He didn’t come back up. KCRA reported that his 10-year-old daughter then sprang into action.
She got a hold of a phone and called emergency services. Yet when Rio Vista fire Chief Jeff Armstrong responded to the call, he couldn’t find them.
“I’m not seeing anyone standing up and waving or anybody signaling for help,” he recalled. Armstrong asked for the dispatcher to put him on the phone with the caller and was surprised to find himself speaking with a young girl.
“I expected an adult on the phone,” he said. “I expected somebody upset.”
Instead, he got a calm 10-year-old who helped guide him to the watercraft. Emergency services were able to rescue little Marcus.
Initially, the little boy didn’t have a pulse, so first responders administered CPR until he began breathing again. A helicopter airlifted him to a nearby hospital where he remains in critical condition.
Paramedic Will Coelho said, “We always give it our all with all patients, but with a child, it’s a little bit different.” Sadly, emergency crews couldn’t find Lo himself.
Days later, the situation remained unchanged. Lo’s brother-in-law, Chong Yang, told KTXL/CNN, “The family is really hurt. We’re not giving up,” Yang said. “We want to make sure we recover him, and hopefully, we’ll be able to get that done soon.”
“I know we lost a great man, someone so young. I don’t feel it’s his time to go yet.”
Coehlo recalled, “I told the little 10-year-old girl, ‘A lot of this, there’s nothing we can do. We can’t change anything that’s happened, but the only thing we can control is the positivity in our hearts.’”
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