A Filipino father has died while saving his autistic son from drowning at a campsite on Chehalis Lake in Canada.
Arnulf Salazar, 53, breathed his last while trying to save his son, who has nonverbal autism. The incident was reported around 1:45 p.m. on July 17. The lake is located off a remote forest service road outside of Harrison Mills in the Fraser Valley, British Columbia.
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According to one of Salazar’s sons, their family was on a picnic at the lake when his father saw his brother drowning. He quickly jumped into the waters and saved his child, but got into trouble himself and drowned.
When Nick McCleary heard the family’s cries for help, he swam to save the duo. Salazar passed the boy to McCleary who brought him to the shore, McCleary said, adding that he was out of breath that he could have drowned if he had gone back to save Salazar as well.
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Moments later a group of campers retrieved Salazar. His family performed chest compression on him until first responders arrived nearly an hour later and later paramedics pronounced him dead.
Salazar is survived by his wife and four children, two of which have autism. (AW)
