(CNN) Even though he couldn't swim, Victor Mozqueda jumped into a raging river to save a 5-year-old boy from drowning. He rescued the boy, but died in the process.

His family says the selfless act was no surprise.

"He would always do things for others. That's just the way he was raised," Ivan Gonzalez, Victor's brother-in-law -- and also the boy's uncle -- told CNN.

Mozqueda, 22, left his Santa Clarita, California, home Saturday morning for a family trip to Sequoia National Park.

When the family arrived around 7 a.m, they were eager to walk alongside the river.

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