The Iowa teacher found dead in a reservoir with her 10-year-old student tried in vain to save the boy, his heartbroken father revealed Friday.
Fifth grader Ahmed Osman fell into the Coralville Lake Reservoir while on a school field trip on Tuesday — and Borlaug Elementary School, Hannah Jorgensen, 24, jumped in after him, his father Mohamed Osman told the New York Times.
“We didn’t believe he would leave us this soon,” the dad said, adding that his son had “a lot of dreams,” which included being a doctor or soccer player.
Ahmed and his classmates were on a five-day school trip at the MacBride Nature Recreation Area when the tragedy struck.
It’s not clear when the boy went into the water — his body was recovered Wednesday, while the remains of Jorgensen, a fifth-grade teacher at the school, were found Tuesday.
The kids were attending a “School of the Wild” field trip, a program run by the University of Iowa that teaches students about nature in the park, which is leased to the university by the Army Corps of Engineers, according to the Times.
Ahmed, whose family immigrated from Sudan in 2011, loved soccer and was a math whiz who excelled compared to his peers.
Dozens of Sudanese immigrants arrived at the park to mourn Ahmed, Mohamed said.
Jorgensen was a teacher at multiple schools in Iowa before landing on Borlaug.
“Hannah and Ahmed were so much more than members of our school community,” wrote the Iowa City School District in a statement on Facebook.
“Their absence will be felt in the classrooms and hallways of Borlaug, in the lives of those who loved them, and throughout our entire school district community.”
A massive search-and-recovery task force — including the Johnson County Metro Dive Team, local fire departments, the Iowa Department of Natural Resources, State Patrol, the US Army Corps of Engineers, and medical crews — swarmed the area to help find the missing student and teacher, authorities said.
Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds offered her condolences to the elementary school’s students and staff.
“This unimaginable loss touches the entire Borlaug Elementary community and Iowa City School District,” Reynolds said in a statement.
“Please know that Iowans across our state are standing with you in the difficult days ahead.”
