Mum dies days before her birthday while saving drowning daughter
A mother of four has lost her life after trying to save one of her daughters from drowning in a lake.
Sarah Jackson took her four daughters aged 9, 11, 13 and 20 to a lake in Gwinnett County, Georgia to cool off on September 7 for the Labor Day weekend in the US, when her youngest daughter suddenly went under the water.
The nine-year-old had been wading through the lake when she hit a steep drop-off and went underwater, Sarah rushed to help her daughter but ended up taking in too much water and went under herself.
According to James Jackson, Sarah’s brother, the nine-year-old girl was rescued and witnesses performed CPR successfully until an ambulance arrived, while the mother remained underwater for almost five minutes before she was pulled from the lake.
Sadly, Sarah later died in hospital leaving behind her four devastated daughters.
The tragedy happened a day after Sarah was robbed at gunpoint after dropping her oldest daughter off at work, family said.
The day before the incident, Sarah had driven her 20-year-old daughter to work, with her 11-year-old sleeping in the backseat, when three masked men approached her.
“They took her purse, all of the purse’s contents and her cell phone,” Mr Jackson wrote on a GoFundMe page set up to support the Sarah’s daughters.
Neither the mother or her daughter were injured but according to Mr Jackson, because of the robbery a planned holiday to Savannah was cancelled. He said Sarah instead took her daughters to the local lake to cheer them up, where the drowning occurred.
The community of Gwinnett County are mourning the loss of the special needs teacher, well known in the local area for her inspiring story after she overcame being a homeless single mother and graduated college.
Mr Jackson described his sister as a hero, explaining she had struggled all her life but never gave up trying to provide a good life for her daughters.
“She was my motivator, my inspiration. That was my sister. Each one of these children have a huge jump in life because they were exposed to Sarah Jackson, a very intelligent, strong woman,” Mr Jakcson told local media Alive.
The school Ms Jackson taught at, Duluth Middle School, shared the sad news with their students on facebook.
“Ms Jackson was a gift to our students. She leaves behind four daughters, three of whom attend Duluth Cluster schools. Please keep this family, and our students and staff, in your prayers,” the Duluth Facebook page read.
A fellow teacher at Duluth and one of Sarah’s best friends, Patricia Jackson (no relation), told Alive it was Sarah’s birthday on September 11 and she had planned to decorate her desk as a surprise.
“She was Supermum, she would want us to get it together and make sure her kids are safe and protected because that’s what she did,” Patricia said.
The GoFundMe page has raised more than $40,000 for Sarah’s daughters, the girls uncle said he is determined to provide them with the support they need.
“Please help me to provide a fresh start for my nieces, who will be forever scarred by the tragic events that occurred on Labor Day,” Mr Jackson wrote.
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