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    TJ grad dies saving son

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June 30, 2009

TJ grad drowns saving son

MAITLAND, Fla. — A 1975 Thomas Jefferson High School graduate from Port Arthur who lived in Maitlan, Fla., died after rescuing his son from a North Carolina waterfall, WESH-TV reported Monday.

Michael Grady, 52, apparently drowned after he got his leg stuck while rescuing his son on Sunday, according to a report from the Macon County Sheriff's Office.

Grady and his son, Austin, 12, went to the top of the falls to slide down the cascades at the popular swimming area, but when Austin jumped in he "was getting pulled under by the hydraulics of the current," the report says.

Michael Grady went in but "his leg got entangled in the boulders...The force was so great Michael could not free himself," the television station reported.

Still, the report says, Michael Grady held his son out of the water for 30 minutes as bystanders and then rescuers got the boy and then tried to free him. His wife, Lisa Grady, was at the scene and told deputies she yelled to her husband and son not to slide down the falls, but they did not hear her over the sound of the water.

Firefighters eventually rappelled from a ladder on their truck to get to Grady, but he was pronounced dead at the scene.

"Lisa (Grady), law enforcement and others described Michael as a hero for giving his life to save his son's," the report says.

Austin was treated and released from a nearby hospital.

The falls, known as Quarry Falls or Bust Your Butt Falls, is on the Cullasaja River, which flows down from the popular resort town of Highlands, N.C. along U.S. 64/NC 28. The sheriff's office report says the river was swollen from recent rains.

Grady and his sons were involved with the Maitland Little League. In an email to "Friends of the Maitland Little League," Brandon Bizar said Michael Grady "lived each day with his family as his primary purpose. He was a great father and was surrounded by a wonderful family."

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