A man who drowned this week while trying to rescue two young swimmers in Narragansett, Rhode Island, is being remembered as a selfless hero who had a heart of gold.
Idmael Elmonus died Tuesday in the water at Scarborough State Beach after he rushed in to help a 17-year-old and 20-year-old who were struggling in the water, NBC affiliate WJAR reported.
WJAR reports that lifeguards had already left for the day when the incident occurred around 6:30 p.m.
Elmonus didn't know the swimmers and wasn't a strong swimmer himself but saw the pair in trouble and jumped in to help them, his family told WJAR.
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"I overheard those kids screaming. 'He needs help! He needs help.’ So I'm like ‘Oh my Gosh this person needs help,’ so he jumped in,” Warlime Camille-Jean told WJAR of her brother-in-law. “He had his phone, his keys, and cell phone, his wallet, and then he gave them to me, and then I said 'Idmael please do not go too far. Please the wave is kind of crazy, do not go too far.’"
Camille-Jean was at the beach when the tragedy unfolded. She says Elmonus brought his kids there for some fun that night when things took a turn for the worst.
His wife says he was a great husband and father; the couple shared two young children.
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Emergency crews responded to the beach after 911 was called, and they were able to rescue the two young people from the water who Elmonus was trying to save, but the 38-year-old did not survive.
"We seriously thought we were going to see him again and the last time we saw him that's when we saw him laying in the hospital bed restless,” Camille-Jean said.
Elmonus's dad was too heartbroken to speak to WJAR but his cousin-in-law, Ruth Camille, said she wants people to know that Elmonus was a selfless hero. He would do anything for his family, and he was always the first to offer help to others.
"He had a heart of gold. That he thought of others before himself," Camille told WJAR. "Obviously, he sacrificed, basically sacrificed himself for other people that wasn't even his family."
Family members tell WJAR that they have not received a "thank you" from the two swimmers who were ultimately saved.
"He lost his life to help save them and hopefully they actually do something with their life, so his life, you know it could mean something."
Relatives are also asking the Rhode Island Department of Environmental Management to have lifeguards on duty while the sun is still shining and people are still in the water.
