A father has been branded a hero after rescuing two children from drowning despite not knowing how to swim.

37-year-old Marvin Alexan Fernandez Chicas was at Nockamixon State Park in Pennsylvania when he spotted two children swimming in Tohickon Creek on Thursday afternoon.

According to the local reports, the father, who worked at a nearby horse stable and was fishing at the time of the incident, charged into the water near the cliffs area when he saw the kids struggling.

After helping the two children get ashore, Chicas tragically “disappeared in the water” and drowned.

The Pennsylvanian state lake in question is off-limits to swimmers as it is known for its dangerous steep slopes that can easily take people by surprise and cause inexperienced swimmers to drown.

“They apparently got in some trouble in the water, he went in to help them. Unfortunately, he can’t swim. The kids got out, he did not,” Haycock Township Fire Chief Harry Grim said.

Grim also revealed that ten divers were deployed to search for the stable worker in the dangerous and deceptive lake.

“Unfortunately, people don’t follow the rules, and the sad reality is it’s not a smooth, gradual slope under the water, and they step off into a deep area, they take a gulp of water, and they die unfortunately. It shouldn’t happen, but it does,” the fire chief said.

“Don’t swim in Lake Nockamixon. It’s zero visibility this time of year. Divers at 10 feet cannot see their own hands in front of their face.”

Following the tragic news, Marvin’s family launched a GoFundMe page to help the young man’s family provide for his three-year-old son and pay for his funeral expenses back in his native Honduras.

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