A Florida "hero" mom died after using all her strength to keep her 4-year-old son above water when he fell into the St.Johns River, allowing rescuers to pull the boy to safety, authorities and her family said.Nicole Grayson, 43, jumped into the river after her young son fell into the water at Ed Stone Park, west of DeLand, around 4 p.m.
Saturday, according to the Volusia Sheriff’s Office.Investigators said the child had been playing with an unidentified object near a wooden fence along the river’s edge when he dropped it over the barrier.The boy fell into the river while attempting to retrieve it.OFF-DUTY ICE OFFICER RELIES ON 'SIXTH SENSE' TO SAVE DROWNING CHILD BEFORE DELIVERING MESSAGE TO CRITICSGrayson immediately went in after him.Nicole Grayson drowned after rescuing her 4-year-old son from the St.
Johns River in Central Florida.(GoFundMe)"My guess is he was trying to get it.
He slipped in the water, deep, he slipped away in the water," Grayson’s oldest son, Dafino Devega, told FOX 35."And then my mom, I guess she panicked, and she went in the water and tried to save him."CROCODILE ATTACK HORROR UNFOLDS AS COUPLE TRIES TO SAVE VICTIM: ‘WE FELT SO HELPLESS’As Grayson struggled to keep her son above the surface, a witness at the park flagged down a passing boater, who threw two life preservers toward the mother and child, the sheriff’s office said.Grayson eventually became submerged while continuing to hold her son above the water.A frantic 911 caller told dispatchers that rescuers had managed to reach the child but were still struggling to recover his mother.FIREFIGHTERS, POLICE PULL YOUNG WOMAN FROM SEWAGE-FILLED RAVINE AFTER DAYS TRAPPED IN 104-DEGREE HEAT"Hey 911, can you come to Ed Stone Park?" the caller said in audio obtained by FOX 35.
"We have a mother that’s drowned, and we got the baby, but we can’t get the mama."A memorial of daisies is placed near a fence where Volusia sheriff's deputies said a 4-year-old fell over into the St.J...