NC school mourns ‘hero’ who died trying to save his brother in North Myrtle Beach
Hours before they died, Alicia Bryant’s sons gave her the best Mother’s Day she’s had in 28 years.
Bryant’s oldest and youngest sons — Ahykeem Jones, 28, and Johnnie Magbie, 19 — drowned in North Myrtle Beach on May 9 after a Mother’s Day vacation ended in tragedy.
Jones and Magbie had taken their mother out on a boat on the Atlantic Intracoastal Waterway when Jones fell off the boat into the water. Magbie jumped in after his older brother, but neither of them resurfaced.
Their bodies were recovered by dive teams the following day.
Magbie was just two weeks shy of graduating high school as a football star at West Brunswick High School in Shallotte, N.C. West Brunswick Principal Jonathan Paschal said that Magbie had completed the requirements to graduate and a diploma would be presented with his name on graduation day.
At a vigil for Magbie at West Brunswick’s football field last week, the bleachers were crowded with rows of people donning green — the school color — and pink — Magbie’s favorite color.
Magbie’s coaches and classmates gushed over his contagious smile and admired his drive and faith in God as they mourned his unexpected death.
The word “hero” came up often. No one that knew Magbie was surprised he went into the water to save his brother.
“He died a hero. He’s always gonna be my hero,” said Brett Hickman, head football coach at West Brunswick.
Hickman promised that for as long as he remained a coach at West Brunswick, he would see that no one ever wore Magbie’s jersey number, No. 11, again.
“If I’m sitting in this position, nobody is wearing 11,” Hickman said.
Hickman called Magbie the “heartbeat of our football program.” He said coaching Magbie was like having another son.
“No one reveled in teammate’s success like Johnnie Magbie,” Hickman said. “Johnnie made me a better coach.”
Opportunities for Magbie to play college football had started to present themselves, Hickman said.
Hickman said he found it fitting that the unseasonably chilly May night felt more like an October night game day.
It was cold the day of Magbie’s vigil because “Johnnie loves the freaking cold,” Bryant said.
Bryant said she knew when her son was young that football would be a good outlet for him. Magbie never sat still as a kid, she said.
“Football was a thing I knew was gonna simmer him down,” she said. She said her youngest son was the peacekeeper of the family.
“That’s my star. He was my hero. In our family, he was the peacekeeper,” Bryant said.
Monzelle Campbell met Magbie when he was 10 years old and they played football together. Campbell credits Magbie for his transfer to West Brunswick to play football.
“Johnnie reached my soul on a whole different level,” he said.
“He said I love you more than you love yourself. And he did,” Campbell said.
“He kept me straight. Johnnie meant the world to me.”
This story was originally published May 22, 2021 at 12:00 AM.
