Post by raychip on Jun 4, 2005 13:29:41 GMT -5
A son trying to save his father from a heart attack died when his heart failed after he couldn't resuscitate his dad.
Carlton Cox, 75, was taking a break from tending to his tomato plants when he had a heart attack Tuesday. His 47-year-old son Marty Cox was sitting beside him and called 911 before trying to save his father's life, according to the family.
After Marty Cox became aware his father couldn't be brought back to life, he called his oldest brother, Terry Cox. Then Marty Cox, the son that never left home, went into cardiac arrest himself.
Now father and son will be buried together Thursday afternoon in Walhalla.
"Marty was real close to Dad," Terry Cox said. "He tried to save his life. And then he saw him die. It was just too much for him. Marty gave his life trying to save Dad's. That makes him a hero in my book."
Carlton Cox worked for two decades at the Clemson University Police Department. But his first love remained farming, and Carlton Cox and his wife Ruth Terry raised their three sons on their Oconee County farm.
"Dad did what he could for his neighbors and his friends," Terry Cox said. "He always shared with people that needed it."
The whole family helped out, even after the boys were adults, Terry Cox said.
Carlton Cox loved growing tomatoes, at one time raising more than 5,000 plants to sell and give away. Fellow officers at the police department would come by to help in the fields, his son said.
Marty Cox had started helping his dad more since he recently lost his job when the nearby WestPoint Stevens plant closed.
"We were always a close family," he said. "I guess it was the way we were raised. There was never any fussing or fighting in the house. Because we respected Dad, we wanted to be like him."
Carlton Cox, 75, was taking a break from tending to his tomato plants when he had a heart attack Tuesday. His 47-year-old son Marty Cox was sitting beside him and called 911 before trying to save his father's life, according to the family.
After Marty Cox became aware his father couldn't be brought back to life, he called his oldest brother, Terry Cox. Then Marty Cox, the son that never left home, went into cardiac arrest himself.
Now father and son will be buried together Thursday afternoon in Walhalla.
"Marty was real close to Dad," Terry Cox said. "He tried to save his life. And then he saw him die. It was just too much for him. Marty gave his life trying to save Dad's. That makes him a hero in my book."
Carlton Cox worked for two decades at the Clemson University Police Department. But his first love remained farming, and Carlton Cox and his wife Ruth Terry raised their three sons on their Oconee County farm.
"Dad did what he could for his neighbors and his friends," Terry Cox said. "He always shared with people that needed it."
The whole family helped out, even after the boys were adults, Terry Cox said.
Carlton Cox loved growing tomatoes, at one time raising more than 5,000 plants to sell and give away. Fellow officers at the police department would come by to help in the fields, his son said.
Marty Cox had started helping his dad more since he recently lost his job when the nearby WestPoint Stevens plant closed.
"We were always a close family," he said. "I guess it was the way we were raised. There was never any fussing or fighting in the house. Because we respected Dad, we wanted to be like him."