A 32-year-old Shawnee man paid the ultimate price while trying to save a drowning child in a Chickasaw National Recreation Area creek Monday, authorities said.

According to Park spokesman Eric Leonard, the man was pronounced dead at Arbuckle Memorial Hospital after attempting to save an eight-year-old child who was having difficulty swimming.

The incident began unfolding about 5:15 p.m., according to Leonard, when a group was swimming in a stream near Veterans Lake. Scanner reports indicated the incident was at an area commonly referred to as the 40-foot hole in Rock Creek, near Veterans Lake.

Leonard said the 32-year-old man jumped into the water to assist the child and encountered difficulty while trying to save her life. He said bystanders and other park visitors pulled the man from the water. CPR was begun when emergency personnel arrived and he was taken to Arbuckle Memorial Hospital where he was pronounced dead shortly after arrival.

The child, whose life was saved, was treated and released.

Leonard said identification of the victims is being withheld pending full notification of the family.
"This incident underscores the importance of the water safety rescue sequence: reach, throw, don't go," Leonard said in a news release.
Agencies responding to the incident were the National Park Service, Murray County Sheriff's Department, Murray County Emergency Services, Sulphur Fire Department, Sulphur Police Department, Chickasaw Lighthorse Police and the Oklahoma Highway Patrol.

Email our reporter at dhudspeth@sulphurtimes.com.