- The family of a 15-year-old who died in the Sacramento River over the weekend says he was trying to save his younger brother and was swept away.
- A boater rescued Elijah and the mother of the two boys but Amari was swept downstream.
- Several people have died recently in fast-moving Northern California rivers and authorities have warned people to stay out of the water.
A 15-year-old who died in the Sacramento River over the weekend was trying to save his younger brother, the family said.
Amari Quarles jumped in to help his 13-year-old brother, Elijah, who went into the surging river to retrieve a thrown football during a family gathering at Sand Cove Park on Sunday.
“He died a hero. He died to save somebody else’s life, and he lost his in turn,” Amari’s father, James Sashe, told KXTV-TV.
Amari, who loved football and music, had just completed his freshman year at Natomas High School and got straight As this semester, his family said.
When he saw his brother struggling in the current, the teenager jumped in and the boys began to drift.
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Amari’s stepmother, Yolanda Sashe, went into the water to help.
“The water is just pulling you and tugging you and dragging you and holding you,” she told the TV station. “And the pressure on my chest as I’m swimming to Elijah, I’m like, I know they’re in trouble.”
A boater got her and Elijah to safety but Amari was swept away.
“I clenched my hand to hold him and this water just rushed and snatched him, just took him away. He was gone,” she said.
Amari’s body was recovered Monday morning.
“He had told me, ‘One of us is going to have to go down,’ and he made sure it wasn’t me,” Elijah said. “It really hurts not seeing him here right now, and it hurts just speaking about him knowing that I can’t turn and hug him.”
The family recently moved to the area from New York.
Amari’s mother, Marjorie Quarles, said her son “lit up the room when he knew you…
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