A Gwinnettt grandfather’s final act of love saves twin granddaughters

Grandfather dies saving twin granddaughters

A Gwinnett County grandfather’s final act of love. A Dacula man died Wednesday after a tree limb fell on him, moments after he got his 8-year-old twin granddaughters to safety. It happened at their home on Ewing Chapel Road. Those little girls are calling their grandfather a hero.

DACULA, Ga. - A Gwinnett County grandfather is being hailed as a hero after saving his twin granddaughters from a falling tree limb.

It happened on Wednesday afternoon on Ewing Chapel Road in the Dacula area. 

Manuel Javier Pinzon, 78, died at Northside Hospital Gwinnett, his family said.  

Timeline:

Pinzon was with his grandchildren to give water to a baby deer when they heard cracking overhead just before noon in a wooded area of his backyard. 

According to the family, he quickly pushed the children out of the way before a tree limb came crashing down. 

The girls sprang into action—one calling 911, the other alerting their grandmother.

"As soon as he heard it, he immediately pushed them out of the way," Jason Krause, the twins’ father, said. "She grabbed the phone and called 911. This one ran inside the house to tell her grandmother what had happened."
"Gabriella was following the instructions of the operator. So she had gotten a rag, and she was holding it on his head," Jason Krause said.

Beatriz Arias, 76, his sister Gloria Inez, 75, were home at the time, but there was a language barrier with first responders. 

The backstory:

Pinzon was 78 years old and was set to celebrate his 79th birthday next week. 

He just celebrated his 50th wedding anniversary. 

His granddaughter described him as "very kind, sweet, and he would always, like, give us hugs."

His family said he came to the country in 1999, fleeing political prosecution in Colombia. 

They described him as an avid outdoorsman who dearly loved his family. 

What they're saying:

"I would describe him as a grandpa, a hero, and someone who would save me if anything happened," Gabi Krause, one of the 8-year-old twins, told FOX 5.

"She did the best she could. And when it's your day to die, and when God calls you, he calls you. And he was ready to go," Andrea Krause, the twins’ mother, said.

"If he wasn't there yesterday, and if he didn't instinctively make that decision that he made, I would have lost one or both of my daughters," Jason Krause said.