An 18-year-old student has been hailed a hero after he sacrificed his life to save his two friends from drowning off the shore of a beach in New Jersey.
Jalan Alston, a high school student in New York, went missing on Friday after jumping into the water to help Sierra Williams and Jayda Smith as they had been swept away by a rip current, the US Coast Guard said.
The 18-year-old hero didn’t think twice and pushed his friends to the shoreline. Sadly, he didn’t make it out of the water.
The US Coast Guard conducted a search for the teen, covering more than 58-miles. After searching for 24 hours, his body was found and recovered at around 6:20 pm on Saturday near Albany Avenue Beach.
Alston’s brother, Mark, said in an interview with NJ.com: “He made the ultimate sacrifice. He is truly selfless and has always been that way — he’s type of person that will try to do anything you ask of him of him and he would always come through.”
The grieving brother also told USA Today that Altson and his two friends were enjoying in the water when the two girls were caught by a rip current. Instead of running away to call for help, Alston did his best to push them toward the shore.
“He’s not here because he wanted to save people,” Mark expressed. “I will always remember him as my little brother who saved two people.”
Jayda Smith set up a GoFundMe page for the hero’s family and wrote: “Jalan Alston saved both me and Sierra’s lives from the rip current off the Jersey shore. He selflessly and almost instinctively jumped into the current after me, pushed me out and got me to shore. He then tried to get back to the shore with Sierra’s help, but to no prevail.”
She added: “He understood what was happening, grabbed her wrist and shook his head, then with a push sent her to the shore with me using his last bit of strength he had. It’s because of him that I am here, sharing his story to the world.”
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