Newnan father presumably drowns while saving son

Print
E-mail

By Christian Boone

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

A Newnan father of two saved his 10-year-old son's life but apparently lost his own while on vacation over the weekend in Wyoming's Snake River Canyon.

Enlarge photo

Family photo Joel Fegarido, 46, jumped into Wyoming's Snake River Canyon to save his son, Joey.

Coach drowns saving players

More Atlanta area news »

After spotting his son, Joey, struggling in the Lunch Counter rapids late Saturday afternoon, Joel Fegarido, 46, jumped into the water and managed to push him toward the river's bank and eventual safety.

"They probably floated a quarter mile before he was able to shove Joey to safety," said Robert Wilkinson, who is married to Fegarido's sister. The couple was introduced by Fegarido while he was dating his future wife, Eva -- Wilkinson's older sister. "There's absolutely no doubt he saved Joey's life."

But the former lifeguard couldn't save himself as the currents pulled him under. Friends and family chased after him along the river's edge until he disappeared under the water.

Rescue crews had been searching for Fegarido since he went missing, but Lincoln County, Wyo., Sheriff Shane Johnson said their mission is now focused on recovery.

"We're still searching, but we're comfortable in concluding that he's no longer on the site," the sheriff said, noting that the volunteer rescue team included a helicopter and watercraft.

Fegarido's pastor, Dave Ketelsen, said friends and family are still hoping for the best.

"We know it's very, very unlikely, but we're praying Joel will turn up," Ketelsen told the AJC. Fegarido, an active member of Peachtree City Seventh Day Adventist Church, "is always eager to help someone out," his pastor said. "If anyone had to move, he'd be there with his truck. You wouldn't have to ask."

Wilkinson has been busy updating his brother-in-law's large circle of friends on the status of the rescue/recovery.

"He had friends everywhere," Wilkinson told the AJC. "Wherever he went, he met a new friend."

Fegarido, an avid fly fisherman, visited Wyoming at least once or twice a year.

"There's nothing on this planet that Joel likes more than being around a river," Wilkinson said. "Any extra few days he could scrape together he'd find his way to a river."

The Fegaridos and their two children -- son, Joey, and 7-year-old daughter, Jamie -- were about to wrap up a vacation that had taken them to Yellowstone National Park and the Grand Tetons. The Snake River Canyon was their final stop, his brother-in-law said.

"I take some solace in knowing that, if he couldn't be with his family, Joel is where he would want to be more than anyplace else in the world," Wilkinson said.

If Fegarido is indeed found dead, he would be the second metro father to drown this month after saving his son from the same fate. Earlier this month, Darin McGahey, of McDonough, succumbed to the riptide off Florida's Navarre Beach while helping his 11-year-old son.