'Hero' Waycross father died protecting daughter from car, family says

STORY: Mom killed shielding children from car on first day of school

The Waycross community is calling Dedrick Bacon a hero after he sacrificed his life for his daughter’s safety.

Bacon, 38, will be remembered at a funeral service in Waycross on Saturday.

“He’s become a hero -- to not just me, but to everybody he touched,” Dedrick’s sister Idella said. “I’m amazed by it, and so blessed and thankful to be able to call him my brother.”

A Waycross police report stated the incident happened on on Aug. 10 along Knight Avenue. His family says Dedrick Bacon was walking back from dinner with his three youngest children when his 4-year-old daughter ran into the roadway.

“On impact, he picked her up and threw her -- and he took the hit for her,” Idella Bacon said.

Dedrick Bacon's injuries were severe. He was placed on life support, but he died 48 hours later.

The report stated a witness told police he saw a man grab her from the street and quickly hit by a car.

Waycross Police officers talked to the driver who hit Dedrick, who they described as very upset. The driver told police she was driving 40 mph at the time of the incident.

Idella was working at the hospital when she got a call that Dedrick was rushed into the emergency room.

“Sad seeing him laying there, motionless,” Idella said. “It’s just, I don’t know. It was just hard, really hard.”

“When I learned really what happened, it put ease to me,” Idella said. “It put ease to my heart, my mind that he took the life for her. He took that hit for her. He saved her so she could be here longer and live her life.”

“That was him, that was the kind of person he was,” Dedrick’s friend Gary Franklin said. “It made me smile because I know that’s something he would do. So I wasn’t surprised about it.”

Dedrick leaves behind four children. Idella and Franklin are asking for donations to support his family and contribute to a proper funeral service.

A GoFundMe has been set up to assist the family with funeral expenses. To help the Bacon family, please click here. 

Cox Media Group