PALM BAY, Fla. — A 14-year-old and 19-year-old, who were pulled from a lake Thursday after their canoe flipped, were pronounced dead Friday, the Palm Bay Police Department said.
Donald Azon, 14, and Carl Campbell, 19, were in the canoe when in overturned. A third male, who tried to rescue them, is hospitalized and is in stable condition, officers said.
RAW INTERVIEW: Rescuer Talks To WFTV
The two teen boys were pulled from a lake Thursday near the 900 block of Nixon Circle in Palm Bay (see map) , police said.
Just before 12:30pm Thursday, Palm Bay Fire Rescue and patrol officers responded to a 911 call from a woman who said that a canoe overturned and two boys were in the water and needed to be rescued. Patrol officers said they found one victim along the shore, who was not breathing, and rescuers attempted to revive him.
Two other males were in the water and two officers jumped in to pull them to shore. One of the men was identified as local resident, 23-year-old Dewey Moore, who jumped in the water to rescue the victims.
WFTV spoke with Moore Thursday afternoon. Moore said he was sound asleep in his house when a neighbor came banging on his door and told him a boat overturned and someone was drowning.
Moore said he saw the overturned boat and paddled out to the middle of the lake and dove in. He was able to pull Campbell to shore first and that's when bystanders, who couldn't swim, said Azan was still out in the water.
Moore said he didn't even think about his own well-being, and he was just trying to do what he felt he needed to do.
"He's in there risking his life for somebody he doesn't know, two of them," said Officer Glen Garceau of the Palm Bay Police Department.
But as he was attempting to rescue Azan, he became exhausted and was also in need of rescue. Police helped pull Moore and Azan back in.
"He was on his way down, he had already given up, but he would not let go of the young man he found," said Officer Sam Ivey of the Palm Bay Police Department said.
Officers said they rescued the two men and immediately began CPR until paramedics arrived.
According to a witness, one of the boys jumped out of the canoe, causing it to overturn. The witness said both males then attempted to swim to shore.
"A lot of people don't know that the thing is there, the lake," neighbor Richard Goldsmith said.
Moore said he took in a lot of water, and had a headache, but he is going to be OK. Moore said he is grateful for the help of the police officers that helped him.
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