A New York man is being hailed as a hero after he died while 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 October 7 when they noticed 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 made it back to 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 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 October 7 when they noticed the young boy in distress
‘He died a hero, giving his life so another could live.’
Lambros’ mother, Phyllis Gasparri, said a woman tried to help pull him to shore, but it was already too late.
She recounted to News 12 Long Island how her sister-in-law came running up to her on the beach, telling there was an emergency before she learned what had happened to her eldest son.
Despite her grief over the sudden loss, Gasparri said Lambros’ actions that day reflected the kind of man ‘he was.’
‘He went into the water to save that kid,’ she told WNBC. ‘That’s who he was. He will give you the shirt off his back, he will help anyone.’
Lambros is being hailed as a hero for jumping into the water despite not being a strong swimmer
His brother, Joey Pappas, also told WABC that Lambros was his ‘hero’ when he was a child and ‘he was my hero now.’
‘Me and him never split up, and the one time we split up, this happens.’
The family has said in the online fundraiser for his funeral expenses 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 any room and whose heart was as big as his spirit.’
His family is now warning other tourists to be careful at the popular destination
It took the family nearly a week to bring Lambros’ body home to New York, and they are now warning other tourists to be careful at the popular destination.
They blame his death on the lack of firefighters, with Gasparri telling WABC that ‘there’s no rescue skis, there’s no emergency teams that’s gonna get there in time.’
Bermuda police, though, have said there were signs posted on the beach that warned people of the rough waters amid hurricane season.
Still, the family says more needs to be done.
‘We want change, we want tourists to be safe, we never want anyone else to feel this pain ever,’ Pappas said.
He added that his brother ‘always wanted to make change and heal people.
‘And we hope with Jamie and his legacy now that it will make change no one has to feel this again.’
