A 24-year-old man drowned in Lake Tobesofkee near Macon while trying to save three children, authorities said.
Bibb County Coroner Leon Jones said the body of Michael Dewayne Jones was pulled from the lake Saturday about an hour after he disappeared.
Leon Jones said the man was rescuing three children ages 5, 7 and 8 who were having trouble swimming. Leon Jones said the children, two of which belonged to Michael Jones, were saved but Jones drowned. The other child was an 8-year-old girl who Jones' sons were playing with in the water. Jones had gone to the lake for an outing with his wife and three sons. The other son, 7 months old, was not in the water.
Jones was training to become a Macon firefighter, according to the Macon Telegraph.
“He did what any parent’s gonna do," Sheriff's Lt. Paul Edwards told the Telegraph. "He did what firemen are trained to do. But for whatever reason, he slipped. It could’ve been a catfish hole, it could’ve been a rock. He went down and he never came back up.”
Jones had dreamed of becoming a firefighter, according to his wife, Tykia.
“That’s all he talked about, every time he would see a fire truck. He just said he liked saving people."
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