Pablo Hernandez Cruz had been looking forward to meeting his first grandchild. He won't get the chance after helping save two children who were struggling in a New Jersey river on Wednesday. The 49-year-old of Mays Landing got the pair to shore but then sank below the surface of the Great Egg Harbor River within Atlantic County's Weymouth Furnace Park, where swimming is prohibited, NJ.com reports. "The water is deep and can be dangerous for swimmers which is why we prohibit swimming," says County Executive Dennis Levinson.
The river is a popular spot for tubing, however. A witness says he was dropping off tubers Wednesday when he encountered a police officer, who told him what was happening. "We jumped in right away," Paul Horsey tells WTXF. According to other witnesses, Cruz, who was also in the water, "pushed the kids to where they could reach them," Horsey says. "He saved them and then he went under." Cruz dove into the river, got the children to shallow water, then became trapped beneath the surface, a relative tells NJ.com. First responders pulled him from the river, but he died at a hospital.
Cruz's brother-in-law, Joe Pagliuca, says the selfless father of two daughters was unrelated to the two boys, aged 8 and 12, who were saved as a result of his actions. The younger of the two was taken to a hospital, while the older was treated by paramedics, officials said. "This was a man who was a hero, saw two children struggled and decided to put their best interests before his own," Pagliuca tells NJ.com. Signs posted in English and Spanish warn people against swimming in the park due to deep water and strong currents. Several drownings have occurred there over the years, most recently in 2021. (More Good Samaritan stories.)
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