It was supposed to be their best birthday trip.
Michael Talley took his twin daughters to Canyon Lake Sunday for their 12th birthday celebration.
Talley, 45, was riding a personal watercraft with his daughter Daja when they made a sharp turn and were thrown into the water.
They both were wearing life jackets; however, Talley took his off when he thought he saw his daughter struggling. Another personal watercraft came over to try and help.
"He thought I was going to drown," Daja told KTRK. "He was saying, 'Come on, come on.' Then the lady was trying to let (Talley) on the Jet Ski and he couldn't, and he slipped off of it. I didn't see him anymore."
Talley's body was recovered Tuesday by divers with the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department Game Wardens and other rescue teams, according to KTRK.
Talley was a single father. The girl's’ mother died from a severe asthma attack when they were 3 years old. His sister Teayla will now raise them.
“They’re mine now because he would do the same for me,” she said.
Daja will always remember him.
"He was an amazing and heroic dad,” she said. “We will love him, and pray for him every day and talk to him in heaven.”
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