A Lewisville man who drowned while helping to save a young girl off the coast of South Carolina in 2011 was one of 22 people honored last week with medals for heroism by the Carnegie Hero Fund Commission.
Jeffery Scott Dinkins drowned off Myrtle Beach, S.C., July 7, 2011. The 6-year-old girl and her father were wading in the Atlantic Ocean when they were caught in a rip current that swept them into deeper water.
Dinkins, 41, swam 150 feet offshore, took the girl from her father and started to swim toward the beach. As Dinkins began to struggle in the strong currents, other people helped the girl and her father to safety. But Dinkins lost consciousness and couldn’t be revived.
The Carnegie Hero Fund was started in 1904 by industrialist Andrew Carnegie to honor outstanding heroism by American citizens.
“Jeff was a great person and a great friend who was always willing to help anyone. He died saving someone because that was the kind of person he was. He lived to make people laugh and was devoted to his wife and children. I am honored to have called him my friend,” said Steve Eller of Winston-Salem.
“A testament to the kind of person Jeff Dinkins was in the eyes of those who knew him – his funeral was on a 100 plus degree day in July 2011 and it was overflow at Lewisville Baptist Church. People who knew him from all over North Carolina came to pay their respects. Wilmington, Raleigh area, Charlotte, Asheboro – they were all here.
“The Winston-Salem Jaycees take a group of underprivileged children Christmas shopping every year and this was Jeff’s favorite project. He always …