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Father Dies Saving His Daughter From A Frozen Pond

Father Dies Saving His Daughter From A Frozen Pond

Neither he or his friend could swim but still jumped into the water

Tom Wood

Tom Wood

Friends have paid tribute to a selfless young father who dived into a freezing cold pond to save his daughter despite not being able to swim.

Anthony Burgess Jr., 24, dived into the water to go after his three-year-old daughter who was trapped in his car and had accidentally sat on the gear stick.

At about 4:30pm on Sunday the car - which was parked outside Core Riverbend Apartments in Castleton, Indiana - began to roll back towards the pond with the girl trapped inside it, according to reports from local radio station WIBC.

Burgess was standing talking to his friend, Bobby Malone, 28, when they both noticed the car's movement.

Despite neither of the pair being able to swim they both dived into the water in a frenzied attempt to rescue her.

Indianapolis Fire Department

They reached the car in the water before it went completely underneath the water and got the girl into the back seat before getting her out of the car.

Another man who saw the whole incident unfold, Devon Starks, jumped into the water and came out to the car - he was also unable to swim - he managed to get the girl from Burgess and tried to return to help him, but he had gone underwater.

When the first responders arrived they treated the girl and the bystander who had jumped into the water but found that Burgess had no pulse once he was removed from the water.

He was rushed to hospital where he briefly regained his pulse, but then died shortly afterwards.

He was confirmed dead at around 11:30pm.

His friend, Bobby Malone has since posted several moving tributes to the bravery of his friend on Facebook.

He said: "He saved his daughter he couldn't save his self!

"Why did this happen in like two seconds and five seconds the car in the water. He didn't dserve that why the f**k couldn't I make that swim...

He continued: "I couldn't make it bra I'm sorry bro.

"I'm sorry bro I couldn't help you like I wanted to bro I wanted to but I ain't as strong as I wanna b bro... I was coming on God I was coming [sic]."

Facebook/Bobby Malone
Bobby Malone

Burgess' other friends have also paid tribute to him.

Kelly Jordan posted a long post praising his bravery that said: "Thank you Jesus for giving him the strength to save his daughter.

"He couldn't swim to save his own life. But to save his daughter he became an excellent swimmer"

Instagram

In the days leading up to his tragic death he had posted a touching picture of him and his daughter that was simply captioned: "I love her soooooooooo much!"

His daughter remains in a critical but stable condition.

Featured Image Credit: Indianapolis Fire Department

Topics: US News, daughter