CARROLLTON, Ga. — ---
A family is mourning after a man jumped into a lake save his 4-year-old son and ended up drowning.
Authorities said over the weekend that Stephon Hunt-O’Neal, the child's stepfather, died during the rescue attempt. His wife, Kenya, described her husband as a great father to their children.
"They loved fishing with him. But he is the best one,” Kenya O’Neal said while pointing at the couple’s son. “He enjoys going. Every time Stephon goes fishing, he tries to go.”
The couple met nine years ago in school and were married in 2019. They were raising three children together: a 4-year-old son named Josiah and two daughters, 3-year-old Audrey and 1-year-old Jayda.
Kenya said the image she will always hold onto of her husband is him with their children.
"Him interacting with the kids,” she said. “He is one of them, I have four kids. They'll be on the floor, knocking stuff over. As soon as he walks in the door, they all run to him."
In an interview with 11Alive, Kenya said on Saturday, O'Neal, one of his friends, and Josiah went fishing.
A Georgia Department of Natural Resources said the trio were on Lake Seaton in Carroll County. At some point Josiah, who was wearing a life jacket, fell into the water according to the Georgia Department of Natural Resources.
"Heard him screaming apparently and they all jumped in to get him,” Kenya said, who wasn’t at the lake on Saturday.
She said O'Neal, his friend, and some witnesses tried to save Josiah, who ended up making it back onto the boat.
But the DNR reports the father went under water after deciding to swim back to the shore, and he never resurfaced. Hours later game wardens recovered his body.
"That came as no shock to me - saving his son out of the water and risking his own life,” said O’Neal’s good friend Dylan Allen. "I understood that."
PHOTOS | Stephon Hunt-O’Neal and family
Allen said growing up, he went to school with O’Neal, but they became good friends recently. The pair often worked out at Club Fitness, a gym in Carrollton where O’Neal worked as a personal trainer.
After learning of O’Neal’s passing, Allen set-up an online fundraiser to cover the costs of funeral services. The goal of $7,000 was met in a matter of hours. Allen said the fundraiser will stay online through Friday with any additional funds benefiting his friend’s family.
Being able to quickly met the fundraiser’s original goal is a reflection of the impact O’Neal had during his life, according to Allen.
"He really had a presence about himself, that would just light up the entire room no matter what size room he was in," he described. "He was that kind of guy."
But without O’Neal around, Kenya is now lost on how to raise their three children alone.
"I'm not even sure where to start, but they're going to need as much support as possible,” Kenya said.