WORCESTER, MASS. (WHDH) - The wife of a Worcester police officer who died while trying to save a drowning teenager earlier this year says each day since her husband’s tragic death has “been a bad dream” and she’s desperately trying to wake up from it.
Enmanuel “Manny” Familia, 38, drowned in a pond at Green Hill Park on June 4 while trying to rescue a 14-year-old boy who also drowned.
“It’s been a bad dream that I just want to wake up from,” Jennifer Familia said in a video shared MA Police Chiefs. “This is my reality now and I got to figure out how I am going to deal with it.”
Five police officers who were the first to arrive on scene jumped into the water and were able to rescue two of three children who were in distress. Familia went in to search for the third child and did not come back out.
“I remember just grabbing my keys and I ran out the door, panicking, crying,” Jennifer recalled. “When I finally get there, there’s a police officer blocking the entrance and I’m trying to explain to him who I am…I said, ‘I am his wife, I need to get into the park.’ He was like, ‘I’m sorry. We can’t let you in there. I was just told that they found him and he’s on his way to the hospital.’ I knew right away this was not good. All I could think about was what am I going to tell my kids.”
After being evaluated at the hospital, Familia was pronounced dead.
“I don’t know how to feel. I’m trying to just figure it all out,” Jennifer added. “How do you move on when you’ve been without someone for so long and you just know that one person? How am I going to live my life without this man? That’s pretty much my everyday struggle.”
Familia’s younger brother, Eric, said after the incident that he is not surprised his brother rushed into Green Hill Pond on Friday in an attempt to rescue the drowning teen.
“It didn’t matter if he had the uniform or not. He would have gone in there for anyone,” he said.
Loved ones, thousands of police officers from near and far, and countless community members gathered days after Familia’s death to pay their final respects with a touching a tribute.
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