A California high school student died while trying to save his little brother from drowning in a river in the Sacramento area.
The New York Post reported that Amari Quarles, 15, died last Sunday during a picnic in the Sacramento area, as Amari rushed to the river to help his 13-year-old brother, Elijah, who was drowning, their mother, Yolanda Sachi, said.
Yolanda also jumped in to help her boys, but the strong current of the water soon prevented her from stepping in to do something.
“It got really bad really fast. The river was irresistible, you couldn’t go upstream. It was pulling you down,” the mother tells of her tragedy.
The bereaved mother added about the moment she lost her eldest son: “I was looking at him while I was trying to save them, and suddenly I found his hands falling down. As if something was pulling him away from me and he was gone.”
Amari’s body was found by rescue crews a few hours later.
James Sachy, the father of the teenager who drowned, wrote on a page GoFundMe Monday’s Family Special: “My son died a hero. I’m so proud of what he did.”
He added that the family had recently moved to California to be close to family.
Amari was reportedly the top student at Natomas High School, which also confirmed his death in a statement on Facebook.
Sacramento Fire Department Capt. Justin Sylvia said the river’s cold and fast-flowing conditions were difficult even for the rescue team.
He explained: “It becomes very tiring when you are out there looking for someone and trying to swim in that current. If it’s so hard for the rescuers, how is it with the normal people?”