NEPTUNE BEACH, Fla. — A Ukrainian family is sharing more details about Mykhailo Myroshnychenko, a 19-year-old man who died trying to rescue a group in distress in Neptune Beach.
“He always was laughing and a funny guy really," said Victor Myroshnychenko, Mykhailo's brother.
The Myroshnychenkos last saw their brother Mykhailo Myroshnychenko Tuesday night. The three Ukraine natives had just moved to Jacksonville from a refugee camp in Norway, where they lived after fleeing from war, the first in a family of seven to make the trip.
Police say he went into the water at Neptune Beach around 8 p.m., trying to help an adult and two children who were struggling in a rip current.
“I turned to my brother, can you see Mykhailo? He said no, we just went to try to find him, but we can’t," Myroshnychenko said.
Myroshnychenko was recovered just after 2 a.m. in the surf just north of 19th Street in Atlantic Beach. A member of the Neptune Beach Police Department found the man floating close to shore.
“So terrible because we must today call to our parents in Norway and we have small brothers and sisters in Norway," Myroshnychenko said.
Their family fled from war in Ukraine and are now living in a refugee camp in Norway waiting to come to the US. Their parents hearing over the phone that Mykhailo died a week before his 20th birthday.
Now instead of a birthday party the brothers are planning a funeral.
“And we bought a present for him, but we can’t gift him his present now. It’s really so terrible for us," Myroshnychenko said.
The brothers are working with a local Ukrainian church but are asking the community who can make donations to help. A GoFundMe link for their family can be found here.