A Long Island man tragically drowned while trying to save a woman and her child from the ocean during a family vacation in Bermuda. Jamie Labros, 48, died on October 7 while trying to rescue the woman and her 10-year-old son at Horseshoe Bay Beach, according to an obituary from his family.
Although the mother and son survived, Lambros, hailed as a hero, did not. The Deer Park resident had been on a cruise with 11 family members when the heartbreaking incident occurred, his devastated family shared. "He was my hero when I was a kid and he was my hero now," a heartbroken Joey Pappas, Lambros' brother, told WABC.
Died Saving Others' Lives
"Me and him never split up, and the one time we split up, this happens," Pappas lamented. The grieving family is now planning to raise awareness among other travelers about the beach, which is promoted to cruise lines without highlighting the associated dangers.
"There's no rescue skis, there's no emergency teams that's gonna get there in time," Phyllis Gasparri, Lambros' mother, said.
"We want change, we want tourists to be safe, we never want anyone else to feel this pain ever," Pappas added.
The Bermuda Police told WABC that there were warnings about rough waters at the beach due to the hurricane season.
Family Devastated after Tragedy
Authorities did not respond right away to requests for comments regarding the incident. As of Friday afternoon, a GoFundMe campaign for Lambros' funeral expenses had raised over $38,000 of its $50,000 target.
"Jamie was so much more than a son, brother, uncle, cousin, godfather and friend — he was the life of every party, someone whose laughter filled any room, and whose heart was as big as his spirit," the page read.
"His loss leaves an unimaginable void in all our lives," the obituary ended.
In August, in a similar incident, a 21-year-old man tragically lost his life around at Lake Waxahachie in Waxahachie, Texas, while trying to rescue a girl who was part of a large church group from Garland.
The girl was eventually rescued from the water by a boater from Red Oak, Texas, and was revived after receiving CPR. She was then taken to a hospital for further treatment.
The man was also pulled from the lake and transported to a hospital, but he was later pronounced dead, as stated in the police's social media update.
