Damian Walker: 'Hero' CrossFit coach drowns with dad while saving wife from rip current
PHOENIX, ARIZONA: An Arizona CrossFit coach and his father drowned to death after saving his wife from a rip current. According to a GoFundMe for the family, Damian Walker, 33, made the "ultimate sacrifice" to save his wife after she got swept up in a rip current while the family was on a visit to Puerto Rico on Friday, March 3. Luis Walker, the coach's father, then leaped in to save his son and daughter-in-law but was dragged out to sea and drowned.
"He was the spark that lit the fire for so many people," Damian's bio on the WildFire CrossFit Community's website states. "He loved, lived, and breathed this place and this community. His spark truly spread like WildFire." Walker was in Puerto Rico to spread his grandfather's ashes in the ocean, a gym member told CBS station KPHO. During the ceremony, his wife got swept away in a rip current, NY Post reported.
READ MORE
Devastated Houston grandfather finds grandson, 9, lifeless in bathtub after possible drowning
'My heart and soul'
Wildfire CrossFit co-owner Tiffany Divelbiss told the publication, "Damian jumped in, as he 100% lived his life with that hero mentality, 'I'm just gonna go in and save them.'" "Walker's father also tried to save him, but they both died in the water. 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," co-owner Skip Divelbiss told KPHO. "To have him and that personality ripped away, there's been a huge hole in everybody's hearts," added Divelbiss.
The coach's wife, Salmeh Walker, took to Instagram to share the heartbreaking news, “My heart and soul, my loving husband has left this earth. My better half I love and miss you so much,” she wrote in the caption below a photo of the couple on a beach together.
'He was everyone's hero'
Walker's father's body has still not been found. The GoFundMe campaign established to raise money for his memorial ceremony has received more than $30,000 so far. "He was everyone's hero," campaign organizers wrote. "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. The community and family are still in shock in processing this tragedy," they added.
Athletes will participate in a "hero workout" of Walker's favorite exercises at the CrossFit facility, where he spent 10 years as a coach, on April 2. This event is being held in memory of Walker, who would have turned 34 on that day.
