9-year-old Georgia girl hospitalized after trying to save dad who drowned in pool

Dillon Thompson
Updated ·1 min read

A 9-year-old girl who tried to save her father from drowning in a pool over the weekend was hospitalized in critical condition, according to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution.

Authorities in Macon, Ga., were called to an apartment complex pool around noon Saturday after 42-year-old Roger Dewayne Anthony went underwater and didn't resurface.

Witnesses said Anthony's daughter, London, jumped into the pool to rescue her father but both began struggling in the water. According to a Facebook post from the Bibb County Sheriff's Office, bystanders managed to drag the pair out of the pool, after which they attempted CPR while waiting for authorities.

Anthony and his daughter were rushed to a nearby hospital, where he was pronounced dead. London remained in critical condition at the Navicent Health Children's Hospital as of Saturday evening.

The incident is the latest tragic death involving family members trying to save one another from drowning.

In June, a father in North Carolina died after trying to save two of his young children from drowning at the beach. Both kids survived the incident, but the father, Johnny Lee Vann Jr., drowned during the rescue.

Last month, a father in New Jersey died under similar circumstances, after he jumped into the water to save his 11-year-old son from getting swept away by the current.

That man, 59-year-old Thanh Bui, also managed to rescue his child before he drowned.