ROSE TOWNSHIP, Mich. (WXYZ) — A 20-year-old Detroit man is credited with saving his coworker's life at an Oakland County lake but lost his own in the process. His mother, Daileen Carter, remembers her son as a hero.
On the morning of July 21 in Rose Township, Marsalis Carter was helping a resident move with a coworker. After a hard day's work, the resident helped the workers to some food. They then asked if they could dip in Taylor Lake, so the resident took the two out on his boat.
“They say he was flipping off the boat and jumping in the water and having all kinds of fun and they knew that he knew how to swim," Daileen Carter said.
However, after a long day of moving and jumping around, tiredness overcame them both. According to Daileen Carter, Marsalis' coworker started having trouble in the water. Marsalis Carter jumped in to help.
"(The coworker) was panicking and I think it kind of spilled over to Marsalis. He’s not a lifeguard," she said. “Once Marsalis pushed the other guy up, the owner gave him the life jacket and... he turned around to see about Marsalis, and Marsalis was already underwater.”
According to Daileen Carter, who has spoken to both the resident and coworker, the water in the lake was murky and the resident, who is in his 70s became fatigued himself trying to find Marsalis.
The Oakland County Sheriff's Search and Rescue Team was dispatched to the scene at 11:07 a.m. At least 25 divers were on the scene, and the search lasted more than 13 hours until Marsalis Carter's body was found.
“It hurts, but I’m proud of him," Daileen Carter said. “He did what he was put on this earth to do: helping somebody else at the end of the day and I have to be OK with that.”
According to the Oakland County Sheriff’s Office, in the county, there were three total drownings in all of 2023. But just this summer alone, there have already been 10.
