VIJAYAWADA: A 44-year-old techie from Andhra Pradesh was washed away at Mickers beach in Jacksonville, Florida, in US on Sunday evening local time while trying to save his 12-year-old son from rip currents.
The deceased was identified as Potti Venkata Rajesh Kumar, a native of Addanki in Bapatla district.
Rajesh is survived by his wife, son and daughter.Rajesh and his family had gone out to Mickers beach on a long weekend.
His 12-year-old son first got caught in the rip current and after seeing him drown, Rajesh rushed to his rescue.
Both of them were caught in the rip current and could not come out of it.
Bystanders alerted emergency response and rushed to their rescue.
One Brendon Townsend, who saw the father and son duo getting drowned, was the first to jump in.Brendon managed to get hold of the boy and performed CPR on him.
Rajesh was declared brought dead, son in ICULater, Rajesh was also pulled out of the water, but he was unconscious by then.
Brendon and other performed CPR but in vain.Both father and son duo were airlifted in a chopper to Wolfson hospital where Rajesh was declared brought dead.
His son is admitted to the ICU where his condition is stated to be stable.According to Krishna Pulagam, a volunteer with Telugu Association of Jacksonville Area (TAJA), Rajesh came to the United States in January 2022 while his family joined him only in May this year.The volunteers at TAJA have started a fund raising campaign for his funeral expenses.
They are also making arrangements to send his mortal remains to India.TDP president N Chandrababu Naidu spoke to external affairs minister S Jaishankar and requested him to help the bereaved family in bringing back the mortal remains of Rajesh.
The family members of Rajesh have also contacted APNRTS for help.