The dad who saved 2 on Lake Nockamixon: 'Hero for everyone with such an act of courage'

The last Thursday in June was a perfect day for fishing.

Not that the weather mattered all that much to Marvin Alexan Fernandez Chicas. Every day was a perfect fishing day for the 37-year-old Telford man.

Lake Nockamixon State Park was his happy place, where you could find him afternoons after work and weekends on the shore with his rod and reel, his family said.  He didn’t know how to swim, but he did not fear the water.

How Marvin Chicas saved 2 children: Telford man dies a hero after jumping into Lake Nockamixon to save 2 children.

He brought friends, cousins, their children and his 3-year-old son, Dylan, to the Upper Bucks park to cast lines into the deep unpredictable waters of the Tohickon Creek.

That Thursday afternoon the sun was bright and the skies clear. A light breeze tickled the skin. Temperatures in the mid-80s.  The kind of day when nothing bad can happen. Until it does.

Chicas was one of three people who went into the water on June 29. He saved two young lives, but lost his own.

“This is a situation that we never imagined living,” his sister-in-law Lesly Canaca said. “But I know that now we have an angel in heaven.”

A brother, a husband, a father, a friend to all

Ten years ago Chicas came to the United States with his wife, Isabel, and one of his brothers from their home in the central city of Comayagua in Honduras, Canaca said. They followed younger brother, Eddy Fernandez, who had come to the U.S. seven years earlier.

“He come for better opportunities in this country,” she said. “Our country, Honduras, we don't have enough opportunity to survive.”

Canacas, her husband and four children also live in Telford, five minutes away from Chicas’ family.  Every night around dinner time he would stop by the house to check in, make sure his brother’s family was okay, Eddy Fernandez said.

His sister-in-law described Chicas, who also has a 17-year-old son, as a man who was always helping others without hesitation or an expectation of any benefit.

“About Marvin you can say so many good things. An exemplary father was always going to see him together with his son, Dylan,” Canaca added. “That little one didn’t leave his dad’s side.”

Family members said that his generosity and personality made him many friends who along with strangers are now returning his kindness. A Go-Fund-Me campaign the family has created days after his death has raised more than $59,000 toward the $65,000 goal as of Tuesday afternoon.

The money will be used to help the family with funeral expenses and the cost to send his body back to the Honduras, where his sister and mother are still live, and his father, who died 23 years ago, is buried, Canaca said.

Eddy Fernandez, said it is impossible for him to pick a favorite memory of his big brother.

“It broke my heart into a million pieces. I am going to remember every moment.”

“No better definition for a hero”

Those who knew Chicas also described him as a hard worker who loved animals, especially horses. He worked at several local horse farms, including Patty Miller Stables in Buckingham, where he was in charge of caring for the animals and stables.

In the equestrian community, everyone knows each other, said Laurel Cavalluzzo, a longtime student at the Patty Miller Stables.

“It’s a very close and tight-knit community,” she said. “Anyone who spends any time at the farm knows who you are.”

At Patty Miller Stables, everyone knew Marvin and his quiet sense of humor, family devotion and his work ethic.  His death is a huge loss to the horse community, Cavalluzzo added.

“Marvin was a meticulous worker who went above and beyond to ensure the safety of the ponies and horses in his care,” she added.  “He was absolutely one of the hardest workers I’ve ever met and I’ve met a lot of hard workers in the horse industry.”

When word spread through the equestrian community about how Chicas died, few were surprised, Cavalluzzo said.

“That is absolutely who he was. He would put other people in front of his own needs. People need help and he jumps in to help,” she said. “There is no better definition for a hero than what Marvin did.”

What happened along the Tohickon Creek

Family members were told Chicas and his friend had been fishing in separate places along the creek on the Haycock side, Canaca said.  Chicas’ son, Dylan, and his best friend’s two children stayed with him.

At some point his best friend’s children, who are 8- and 10-years-old, went into the water near the cliffs area, though swimming is not allowed in the creek or Lake Nockamixon. Chicas saw they appeared to be struggling to stay above the water.

From where he was fishing, the father of the children also saw his children in distress, and Chicas in the water going after them, which he knew was unusual since he knew Chicas cannot swim Canaca said.

The man ran to where Chicas had been fishing and found Dylan and his children on the shore.  They told him Chicas did not come out of the water.

The best friend threw himself into the water to search for Chicas, but was unsuccessful, Canaca said.

Divers recovered Chicas' body in Lake Nockamixon three hours later, shortly before 7:30 p.m. Thursday, according to a park spokesman. The Bucks County Coroner confirmed drowning as the cause of death, which was ruled accidental.

“He gave his life for that of the children who he saved from that tragedy, just as Jesus gave his life for us,’ Canaca said. “Marvin was and will continue to be a hero for everyone with such an act of courage and we know that God was there for him to do that act.”

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This article originally appeared on Bucks County Courier Times: Telford man who died saving two children from drowning could not swim