‘Angels walk among us:’ Jacksonville man speaks at funeral of 19-year-old who saved his children

The man saved in rough waters last week, by a Jacksonville teenager, said their families will now forever be connected.

Action News Jax reported last week when 19-year-old Michael Myroshnychenko jumped into the ocean to save three swimmers in distress. He never made it back to shore, but now he’s being remembered as a hero.

READ: Family of 19-year-old swimmer who drowned off Atlantic Beach: ‘He really loved people’

Family and friends laid Myroshnychenko to rest during a memorial service and burial in the Arlington neighborhood, Monday.

During the ceremony, Eric Polite shared an emotional speech.

“My kids call him [Michael] a hero, but I believe that they’re using the wrong word,” Polite said. “My mother told me that angels walk among us.”

Polite was at Neptune Beach, last Tuesday. He was in the ocean with his two kids between Lemon Street and Atlantic Boulevard, when Myroshnychenko began assisting his daughter, according to a police report. Witnesses said the 19-year-old was trying to help Polite and his kids who were caught up in a rip current.

“Thank you for saving my kids,” Polite said, during the funeral service, looking at Myroshnychenko’s casket.

Myroshnychenko disappeared once the Polite family got to shore. Investigators went searching for him. His body was found the next morning.

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“It is very difficult when you lose a close friend,” Bohdan Besdrushko said. He traveled from Poland for the funeral. He said he is proud of his friend for risking his life for others. “I know that he’s with God, and it is much better for him to be better there.”

Action News Jax also spoke with Myroshnychenko’s brothers, Friday, about their brother and their grief. The three men came here to escape the war in Ukraine.

“We have a lot of Ukrainian refugees lately,” Pastor Bogdan Bondarenko said. “They came from Ukraine. They were fleeing the war that started in Ukraine. So, Michael, he is one of them.”