The body was found floating in the water near Fedora and College in Central Fresno Sunday afternoon. Few details have been released about the death of the 50-year-old man.
The Fire Department is always warning people to stay out of canals; but that thought didn't even enter a teenager's mind when he found the man floating face down in the water.
A group of teens spotted the body floating face down in the water. "We ran and hopped the fence and saw him and he was just floating there, so someone jumped in and grabbed him," said Chelsea Turner.
That someone was 19-year-old Rodney Shelton. "My girlfriend was telling me, 'what do we do, what do we do?' And... Just had to jump in the water."
Shelton said he knows the water is dangerous, but he just had to help the man.
"I think he was fighting for his life," said Chelsea Turner. She was first to begin C.P.R. and once paramedics arrived they continued resuscitation efforts.
A faint heartbeat came back, but only for a short time.
"It was an experience that's going to stay with me," said Shelton.
Shelton and his friends are now trying to cope with what they saw and did along the canal.
This is the second time this year a body was found in the water. In March, just a few yards east, a 19-year-old man was found murdered in the water. Now a memorial sits along the banks to remember his death.
It's unclear if the man found Sunday died before or after ending up in the canal. His exact cause of death is under investigation.
