An American woman who died Saturday when a boat exploded in the Bahamas has been identified as a mother who was on a trip with her husband to celebrate their 15-year wedding anniversary, according to multiple reports.
Maleka Jackson died in Saturday’s explosion, school officials in Cherokee County, Georgia, confirmed on social media.
"Maleka would be I guess what I call a shooting star," Jackson's father, Malvin Grimes, told CBS News. "She had a life that kind of stayed straight on the course, and it was a life that brought a lot of joy and a lot of support and love into the lives of others."
Jackson served as president of the Mill Creek Middle School PTSA in Woodstock, Georgia, during the 2017-18 school year. The PTSA said Monday in a social media post that Jackson's husband, Tiran, "was badly burned in the explosion, had a leg amputated and is 'fighting for his life' in a Florida hospital," according to The Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
“He has a long road ahead, which will include multiple surgeries and physical therapy,” the group said.
The couple's son, Cameron, was with family in Tennessee after the incident. He is a rising seventh-grader at Mill Creek, according to the AJC.
A GoFundMe campaign started by a family friend to support Jackson's family had raised more than $20,000 by Tuesday morning.
ABC News reported that eight other people were injured in Saturday's explosion, which happened off the coast of Exuma, an island about 130 miles south of Nassau.
The cause of the explosion was not immediately known. Authorities continue to investigate.
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution contributed to this report.
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