EL DORADO COUNTY, Calif. — Family members say the man who died along the American River in El Dorado County was trying to help his girlfriend before the rapids overtook him.
"He was just a personable person, loved NASCAR and traveling the country... was well-versed in life," said TJ Gardner.
To Gardner, Stanley Rice wasn't just his grandfather, he was a mentor who taught him about life, cars, rafting, the lakes and more. Gardner said his grandfather also trained him in what it meant to be a good man and a good father.
"He's a good man and loved his family, and was always someone that would be there for whoever," said Gardner.
While Rice was from Salinas, he found himself in El Dorado County June 13 in the spirit of adventure and enjoying life as a retired Teamster on summer vacation.
"He's retired. He had a new girlfriend. They were living as 80-year-old teenagers," said Gardner.
However, tragedy struck downstream from Henningsen Lotus Park when the rapids grew too powerful and overturned their rafts along the South Fork of the American River.
"In order to help out his girlfriend, he got out of the raft to try to pull her to shore and was overcome by the rapids and caught under a raft and a tree," said Gardner.
Officials said people nearby got together to form a human chain to try and pull Rice from the water. Despite the efforts from first responders, Rice died.
"The water was no stranger to him. It's just at this one particular moment, in that dangerous river, it was a little too much," said Gardner.
Gardner's grandfather helped developed his love for the water from a young age. Despite the tragedy along the water ways, he hasn't let it shake the love that his grandfather instilled in him.
"It's just more of a reassured respect for the conditions of the water. You need to respect what you don't know. You don't always know the water going into," he said.
With the water ways still dangerous, Gardner is urging people to be safe.
"Don't be overconfident in yourself, your raft or your lifejacket. You can't rely on all three of those at all times, so you really need to be aware of your surroundings and the situations you're getting yourself into," he said.
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