A 21-year-old man from Texas drowned shortly after being baptized while trying to save a teenage girl from his church group who was also drowning. Lincer Lopez had visited Lake Waxahachie on Saturday afternoon with a church group from Garland, Texas. During the trip, he and several other members were baptized in the lake, Fox News reported.
About an hour later, the group was enjoying the water when a teenage girl began to drown. Lincer Lopez immediately sprang into action, rushing to save her.
"He was a hero," said Lincer Lopez's uncle, Jacobo Lopez, in Spanish. "He didn't think twice about rescuing someone. He didn't consider the risk to his own life, and he did risk his life to save another."
The teenager survived. She was pulled from the water by a boater, Jacob Bell, who performed CPR and successfully revived her. Bell later helped recover Lincer Lopez's body.
"I haven't really begun to- it hasn't sunk in yet," Bell said. "It's hard."
Bell, whose brother drowned when he was only three, feels a deep empathy for Lincer Lopez's family.
"He was a hero. He had just been baptized and gave his life to the Lord. We pray for his family and the little girl's family. He was a strong young man, and they should be very proud of him," Bell said.
Jacobo Lopez shared that his nephew was so excited about his baptism that he couldn't sleep the night before. He also mentioned that the 21-year-old worked hard in construction to send money back to his siblings in Mexico.
Though Lincer Lopez died young, his uncle believes his legacy will live on, inspiring others to serve God and help those in need.
"If they can help, like my nephew did," Jacobo Lopez said in Spanish.
A GoFundMe has been set up to help Lincer Lopez's family raise funds to send his body back to his parents in Mexico.
