Jeff Brady was on a boat anchored on a sandbar in the Colorado River, north of the City of Yuma, Arizona. It was Saturday, July 5, 2025, over the holiday weekend.
The sandbar was Horseshoe Island, near Hidden Shores Resort. He loved fishing and boating there, and his family made the trip nearly every weekend.
They called the place their “slice of paradise.”
He was 51. He had worked for years as an operations manager for Bellator and later the PFL, two mixed martial arts organizations, handling merchandise, apparel, and consumer products.
He had grown up in San Diego County. He and his girlfriend had bought a home in Yuma so they could take care of his aging father.
His girlfriend, the aunt of two boys in their party, was on the boat with him. One boy was 10, the other 12.
Over the sandbar, the water was shallow. Off its edge, it was not.
The Federal Reserve just warned another rate hike could hit soon…
And one ticker could give you the chance to add big money to your account.
But you need to be positioned before October 28.
The 10-year-old stepped off the submerged sandbar into deeper water and started to struggle. The current was pulling at him. His 12-year-old brother went in to help him. Then he was struggling too.
Someone called out for help, and Brady heard it.
He left the boat and went into the deeper water.
He reached the boys and tried to keep them both above the surface. He went under while he did it. He kept them above water until help came by boat.
His twin brother and the brother’s partner came into the river after them. A passing boat stopped, and the boys and the partner were taken aboard. By then Brady had gone under. He did not come back up.
His twin brother dove and searched the water around them. He could not find him and had to get out of the river.
Sheriff’s deputies from Yuma County and Imperial County, federal wildlife officers, and Border Patrol air and marine units searched the river, with divers working underwater. Agencies from two states joined the search.
That evening, Brady was found. He had been carried downstream, and he had drowned.
First responders checked both boys. Neither needed medical treatment. The current did not take the boys. It took the man who held them up.
In 2026, he was awarded the Carnegie Medal after his death. It is given to civilians in the United States and Canada who enter extreme danger to save or try to save the lives of others.
He was one of six people in that announcement honored after their deaths. His family raised money to help pay for therapy for the two boys.
He had moved to Yuma to look after his father. He died in the river looking after two boys who were not his own.
If two boys who were not yours were going under in a current you could see from the boat, would you have left it?