A northeast Georgia man died Sunday after jumping 50 feet from a train trestle into Lake Russell.
Timothy Scott Fleming, 41, of Elberton, was with three other men when the group decided to jump around 4:30 p.m., Sam Ferguson, Abbeville County deputy coroner, told the AJC.
The other three men resurfaced, but Fleming did not. His body was recovered later Sunday evening in water about 80 feet deep. Fleming's death has been ruled a drowning, Ferguson said Tuesday.
Fleming, who is survived by his wife and four children, was a daredevil who liked to "out do" others, his oldest son, Ryker Fleming, told the AJC.
"He always said he was gonna die young," Ryker Fleming, 19, said. "He was gonna live every day to the fullest."
Timothy Fleming, an excellent swimmer, was with family on a boat Sunday when the four men decided to jump from the trestle, Ryker Fleming said.
"He was the last to jump and he decided to do a front flip off the trestle," Fleming said. "From what I was told, he landed on his face."
Ryker Fleming said his 16-year-old brother sustained a broken ankle about a year ago when he jumped off a bridge into water below and hit a rock.
"I probably won't be jumping off any bridges," Ryker Fleming said. "Doing bad things is fun. But it's not worth it."
Fleming's death occurred a day before police officials warned of the dangers of jumping off bridges into Lakes Allatoona and Lanier near metro Atlanta. The accident was unrelated to the warnings.
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