A New York City firefighter died Friday trying to pull his teenage daughter to shore after she got into rough waters along the New Jersey shore, according to The New York Times.
Mark Batista, 39, a member of Fire Department New York, was at Avon-by-the-Sea, New Jersey, with his family when his daughter got into a rip current, the Area Network of Shore Water Emergency Responders said in a statement.
Batista swam out to help the 15-year-old but got into trouble himself.
Rescuers searched for the father of three for more than an hour. Batista was found about 50 feet from the shoreline, NBC New York reported.
“Firefighter Batista was a dedicated public servant who spent fifteen years serving in the FDNY, as both an EMT and a firefighter,” FDNY spokesperson Jim Long said in a statement to NBC News. “We join his family in mourning his tragic passing.”
Batista’s daughter was making her way to the beach when rescuers got her to shore.
After Batista was found, he was pulled from the water and treated on the scene, but he was later pronounced dead at an area hospital, according to Area Network of Shore Water Emergency Responders.
Batista first joined the New York Fire Department Emergency Medical Services in 2008 and spent about five years as an emergency medical technician before becoming a firefighter, Long said.
According to The New York Times, there were no lifeguards on duty at Avon-by-the-Sea, along the New Jersey shore, on Friday. Lifeguards at Avon-by-the-Sea will begin to work full-time on Saturday, according to the community’s website.
