An Arkansas police officer drowned while saving his fiancée from a river, just hours after he proposed to her.
Rogers Police Department officer Fred Marsh, 24, was canoeing on the Elk River in Missouri with his fiancée Hailey and their friends on Saturday when she went into the water.
Marsh went to help her as she struggled with the current, and managed to get her to safety. However, he then became caught in the current himself and called for help before going under. His body was recovered on Sunday.
“He saw the love of his life in distress, and he was going to help his friend and do what a good human would do,” Marsh’s fiancée’s mother Sheryl Padgett told 40/29. “He gave his life helping someone else.”
Padgett her daughter had been dating Marsh for around three years when he proposed to her on Saturday morning, and “loved with everything he had.”
She described him as a “gentle giant” who worked hard and had a strong Christian faith.
“There’s nothing he wouldn’t do for anyone,” Padgett told 40/29. “You didn’t have to tell him. You didn’t have to beg him. He just was willing and would jump in there and do whatever it took to help someone.”
Rogers Police Chief Jonathan Best described his colleague’s death as a “heartbreaking loss” for the department.
“Office Marsh had a bright future ahead of him and had already made an impact on those who had the privilege of serving alongside him,” Best said in a tribute statement. “His willingness to serve others and the enthusiasm he brought to this profession will not be forgotten.
“Our hearts are with Fred’s family, his fiancée, and everyone who knew and loved him.”
A GoFundMe page has been set up by Hailey’s sister Kourtlin Ricketts to raise money for her sibling after the sudden tragedy.
“Fred was an upstanding young man – Son, Fiancée, Officer, Brother, Friend, and more to all,” Ricketts wrote. “We are devastated and will miss him dearly.”
Marsh’s cousin Chris Frye told KNWA/KFTA he had had always wanted to be a police officer.
“As tragic as this is, he died the hero. He gave his life to save someone else,” Frye said. “And that hurts to say, but it is true. His heart was in the right place.”
A procession was held for Marsh on July 20, traveling from Anderson in Missouri to Pine Bluff, Arkansas.
Padgett told 40/29 that funeral arrangements for Marsh are currently underway, with many of Marsh’s colleagues, friends and loved ones being invited to the ceremony.
Having lost her own son four years ago in a fatal accident, the mom said that she had felt an instant connection with Marsh. “I called him son, and he called me mama,” she said.
