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 members of her family on a cruise that made its first stop at Horseshoe Bay Beach in Bermuda on Oct. 7 when they noticed the young man 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 returned safely to shore, 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. he wrote in an online fundraiser.
Jamie Lambros, 48, of Long Island, died while trying to save a mother and her 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 man in distress.
“He died a hero, giving his life so that another could live.”
Lambros’ mother, Phyllis Gasparri, said a woman tried to help him pull him to shore, but it was too late.
She told to News 12 Long Island how her sister-in-law came running up to her on the beach and told her there was an emergency before she found out what had happened to her oldest son.
Despite his pain over the sudden loss, Gasparri said Lambros’ actions that day reflected the type of man he “was.”
“He went into the water to save that child,” he told WNBC. ‘That’s who he was. He will give you the shirt off his back and help anyone.
Lambros hailed as a hero for jumping into the water despite not being a good swimmer
His brother, Joey Pappas, also he told WABC that Lambros was his ‘hero’ when he was a child and ‘he was my hero now’.
“He and I were never apart, and the one time we were apart, this happens.”
The family said in an online fundraiser for his funeral expenses that Lambros’ death “leaves an unimaginable void in all of our lives.”
“Jamie was much more than a son, brother, uncle, cousin, godfather and friend: he was the life of every party, someone whose laugh filled any room and whose heart was as big as his spirit.”
His family is now warning other tourists to be careful in this popular destination.
It took the family almost a week to bring Lambros’ body to New York, and they are now warning other tourists to be careful in the popular destination.
They blame his death on a lack of firefighters, with Gasparri telling WABC that “there are no rescue skis, there are no emergency teams arriving in time.”
However, Bermuda police have said there were signs posted on the beach warning people about rough waters in the middle of 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 feel this pain,” Pappas said.
He added that his brother “always wanted to make changes and heal people.”
“And we hope that with Jamie and his legacy now, changes will come and no one will have to feel this again.”
