A Massachusetts family’s beach vacation turned to tragedy when a father of four was swept away by the current and died after he jumped into the water to save his 12-year-old son.
Gary Simard, 44, of Methuen, and his family were spending Wednesday at Salisbury Beach when the boy got caught in the current, a strong channel of fast-moving water, Essex DA Paul Tucker told WBZ-TV.
A witness told a local CBS affiliate that Simard rushed into the water after the child screamed for help.
Two bystanders who also rushed into the water rescued Simard’s son, but his father was pulled about 100 yards from shore, a witness told Boston 25 News.
“The boy went further, and then the father ran out. Then the father also shouted ‘Help!’ I had no choice, I had to run there,” Kenny Crosby told WBZ.
“A small teenager. His father looked like he was struggling. The child held my hand. We started swimming, and I didn’t know. It’s just like survival mode,” he added.
Gary Simard, a 44-year-old father of four from Methuen, Massachusetts, died after he tried to save his 12-year-old son from a riptide while out at home. The boy was saved by the crowd.
The good Samaritan, Jason Evan Iarossi, told NBC10 Boston he heard the boy calling for his father.
“We swam out to meet the child. We went overboard and it was too much. It’s too much,” he told the outlet, adding that the waves were about 4 to 6 feet high in rough waters.
“What they witnessed yesterday was traumatic, so we just want them to know, we need to remember their father as the person he was and not what happened yesterday,” Iarossi added.
Simard was pulled by the current about 100 yards from shore and could not be revived.WBZ-BRITAS
First responders eventually revived Simard, performed CPR and took him to a local hospital, but he was later pronounced dead.
“He died a hero saving his son from a riptide,” Simard’s sister, Kelly Simard, told NBC10 Boston.
“He went in to save her and he sacrificed his life for his son.
Simard and his family in an undated photo.Go Fund Me
“We feel very sad that we lost him, but it makes us feel better because we know he died for his son,” she added.
Kelly also mourned her brother on a GoFundMe page for the family.
“Gary lived his whole life for his family, his partner Alexis and their four children Gary (13), Matthew (11), Olivia (8) and AJ (6). Gary’s children all survived but unfortunately Gary did not,” he wrote.
“Gary was truly a hero who not only dedicated his life to his children but literally gave his life for them.”
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Source: thtrangdai.edu.vn/en/
