Dad Dies Saving His 2 Young Daughters From Drowning During Family Beach Outing on Father’s Day

Kouncious Wilson/Facebook

A Florida family is reeling after the loss of a determined father. Antwon Wilson was with his children on the beach, and when they became distressed in the water, he immediately ran to help them. In the water, he worked hard to rescue his daughters, along with the help of a good Samaritan. They worked together to get the children close to rescuers, and were successful. Emergency personnel later pulled Wilson’s body from the sea, but were ultimately unable to save him.

Antwon Wilson, 33, was celebrating Father’s Day with his children at the beach in Fort Lauderdale, WFLA reported. Shortly after 7 p.m., 911 calls began coming in, reporting a drowning, per the the Fort Lauderdale Police Department. 

Ocean Rescue lifeguards had only recently gone off duty at the time of the incident, so many were still in the area when the call went out. They quickly rushed back to help.

“They were able to turn their trucks around and be the first responders from our fire rescue department,” Fort Lauderdale Fire Rescue Battalion Chief Daniel Moran said.

According to police officials, Wilson’s daughter, a girl aged between 7 and 10 years old, was struggling in the water. Another one of Wilson’s children was also in the water, and appeared to be in distress, too. Wilson immediately went into the water to rescue them. 

The good Samaritan, Eslam Saad, spoke with WSVN about the experience. “I didn’t think about anything; I didn’t even tell my wife I’m going in the water again. I just jumped into the water,” he said.

“When I got close to her, I told her, ‘Please, I know you are in panic. Please, do not do anything crazy, I will try my best to get you out,” Saad explained.

They were eventually able to get the girl close enough to shore so that lifeguards could get her to land. Saad was also able to get himself safely back out of the water. Wilson, unfortunately, wasn’t able to get himself to safety. Authorities searched underwater for several minutes before finding Wilson. 

He was pulled ashore and taken to the hospital, but he did not survive. The girl and the good Samaritan were also taken to the hospital. As of a few days after the incident, officials said the girl was still hospitalized, but was doing OK.

“I feel proud about myself, and again, I would do the same thing again no matter what the consequences,” Saad said. He spoke with Wilson’s family, who thanked him for everything he did. 

A GoFundMe has been set up by the father of Antwon Wilson to create a small trust fund for his daughters after his death.