An Arizona CrossFit trainer drowned while saving his wife when she became caught in a rip current earlier this month.
A GoFundMe page - set up to alleviate the financial burden on Damian Walker's grieving family - stated that the 33-year-old father "gave the ultimate sacrifice" while saving family members from the rip currents in Puerto Rico on March 3, 2023.
Speaking to CBS affiliate KPHO, a member of Walker's gym revealed that Walker was visiting Puerto Rico to spread his grandfather's ashes in the ocean. During the ceremony, his wife got caught up in a rip current.
"Damian jumped in, as he 100% lived his life with that hero mentality, 'I'm just gonna go in and save them,' " Tiffany Divelbiss, co-owner of Wildfire CrossFit, told the outlet.
Walker's father also tried to rescue him but both drowned. Walker's wife, Salmeh, survived the ordeal, according to the Sacramento Bee.
"He would be proud of the way things happened. He always wanted to be a superhero, and in the end, that's the way it ended up," Wildfire co-owner Skip Divelbiss told KPHO.
"To have him and that personality ripped away, there's been a huge hole in everybody's hearts," Divelbiss added.
The body of Walker's father is yet to be recovered as of this writing.
Divelbiss, who set up the GoFundMe, said the WildFire CrossFit Community is "completely heartbroken over the loss" of Walker, who she described as "our Coach, friend and everyone’s brother Damian Walker."
She went on to say in the description for the fundraiser: "Coach Damian has been with WildFire for 10 years. He was the spark that lit the fire for so many people. He loved, lived and breathed this place and this community.
"His spark truly spread like WildFire. He was everyone’s hero. He had a way of making every single person he met feel special. He would save every animal on the planet if he could. He left this life the way he lived it. All in and sacrificing himself for someone else."
Divelbiss urged donors to "keep his wife Salmeh and his entire family in your prayers and thoughts during this difficult time."
"We are asking for donations to cover the costs associated with his service and burial so his family can grieve without the added stress of an additional financial burden," she wrote.
Thus far, the GoFundMe has raised more than $29,000 dollars of its $30,000 goal.
