The Japanese manga artist is being remembered as a "hero" after dying while reportedly trying to help rescue a U.S. soldier, an 11-year-old girl and her mother from a current at a dive spot in Japan.

Original reports indicated that the creator of the “Yu-Gi-Oh!” empire was found dead after snorkeling in southwestern Japan.

But new details revealed Wednesday by Stars and Stripes show that Takahashi was aiding in the rescue of an 11-year-old girl, her mother and a soldier caught in a current at Mermaid’s Grotto in Okinawa, Japan.

Unbeknownst to Bourgeau, Takahashi also sprang into action to try to help the woman and her daughter, but wound up becoming trapped in the whirlpool himself.

While Bourgeau never saw Takahashi get into the water, his students confirmed they saw glimpses of him trying to help before vanishing beneath the waves.

According to the publication, US Army Major and scuba diving instructor Robert Bourgeau was at the popular dive spot with students when he heard the screams of an unidentified Japanese mother caught in the current and jumped into action.

On July 4, Bourgeau, who is from Missoula, Montana, was serving as a scuba diving instructor at Mermaid's Grotto around 2 p.m. local time.

"That was one the hardest things I have ever had to do, I let [the man] go so I could save myself," he wrote in a witness statement that the Army gave the publication.