What should have been one of the happiest days of a young couple’s lives ended in unimaginable heartbreak.
Just hours after proposing to his longtime girlfriend, 24-year-old Arkansas police officer Fred Marsh died while trying to save her from a fast-moving river current.
The Rogers Police Department officer had reportedly asked Hailey Lummus to marry him on the morning of Saturday, July 18, before the couple headed out for a canoeing trip with friends on the Elk River near Noel, Missouri.
But the celebrations turned tragic when Hailey encountered difficulty in the water.
According to authorities and family members, Hailey entered the river while attempting to get back to a kayak and began struggling against the current. Marsh immediately jumped in to help, alongside another off-duty police officer who was part of the group.
Hailey was successfully guided to safety, but Marsh was caught in the powerful current. Despite desperate efforts by those nearby to rescue him, he disappeared beneath the water and did not resurface. His body was recovered the following morning.
Speaking to KHBS, Sheryl Padgett, Hailey’s mother, shared that Marsh had become engaged to her daughter, Hailey Lummus, earlier that day.
“They had been together for three beautiful years, and they had a very beautiful, loving relationship,” she said. “Even though legally he was not my son-in-law, he will forever be my son.”
Marsh had only recently begun his career with the Rogers Police Department after graduating from the Arkansas Law Enforcement Training Academy earlier this year.
On Monday, July 20, a motorcade escorted Marsh’s body through the Northwest Arkansas region.
“As tragic as this is, he died the hero,” Marsh’s cousin, Chris Frye, told NBC affiliate KNWA.
“He gave his life to save someone else. And that hurts to say, but it is true. His heart was in the right place. He wasn’t thinking about himself. He was thinking about others. That’s the job of a police officer.”
Rest in peace, Officer Fred Marsh.
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