A New York man is being hailed as a hero after he died trying to save a 10-year-old boy and his mother from drowning.
Jamie Lambros, 48, of Long Island, was with 11 family members on a cruise that made its first stop at Horseshoe Bay Beach in Bermuda on Oct. 7 when they spotted the young boy in distress. NBC New York reports.
Despite not being a strong swimmer, family members said Lambros immediately jumped into the ocean to save the boy and his mother.
The boy and his mother eventually reached shore safely, but Lambros did not survive.
“In his final moments, Jamie showed the courage and selflessness that those who knew him will always remember,” family members said wrote in an online fundraiser.
Jamie Lambros, 48, of Long Island, died while trying to save a mother and son from drowning
He was with his family on a cruise that made its first stop at Horseshoe Bay Beach in Bermuda on Oct. 7 when they spotted the young boy in distress.
“He died a hero and gave his life so that another could live.”
Lambros’ mother, Phyllis Gasparri, said a woman tried to pull him to shore, but it was too late.
She told News 12 Long Island how her sister-in-law came running to her on the beach and told her there was an emergency before she heard what happened to her eldest son.
Despite her sadness over the sudden loss, Gasparri said Lambros’ actions that day were a reflection of the kind of man “he was.”
“He went into the water to save that child,” she told WNBC. ‘That’s who he was. He will give you the shirt off his back, he will help everyone.’
Lambros is hailed as a hero for jumping into the water despite not being a strong swimmer
So does his brother, Joey Pappas told WABC that Lambros was his ‘hero’ as a child and ‘my hero now’.
“Me and him never broke up, and the one time we broke up, this happened.”
The family said in its online fundraiser for his funeral costs that Lambros’ death “leaves an unimaginable void in all our lives.”
“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 every room and whose heart was as big as his mind.”
His family is now warning other tourists to be careful at the popular destination
It took the family almost a week to bring Lambros’ body to New York, and now they are warning other tourists to be careful in the popular destination.
They blame his death on the lack of firefighters, with Gasparri telling WABC that “there are no rescue skis, there are no emergency teams that will get there in time.”
However, Bermuda police said signs had been posted on the beach warning people of the rough waters during hurricane season.
Still, the family says more needs to be done.
“We want change, we want tourists to be safe, we don’t want anyone else to ever feel this pain,” Pappas said.
He added that his brother “always wanted to make change and heal people.
“And we hope with Jamie and his legacy that it will bring about change now so that no one has to feel this again.”