A photo posted to Facebook by Rodney Moncur showing the scene as crowds gathered round following the drowning.
By SANCHESKA BROWN
Tribune Staff Reporter
sbrown@tribunemedia.net
A CRUISE ship employee drowned on Cabbage Beach yesterday afternoon after being advised by police officers earlier in the day to “stay out of the water”, The Tribune understands.
It happened around 1pm.
Police say the 37-year-old American man was pulled from waters by lifeguards, but was pronounced dead at the scene by EMS personnel.
According to witnesses, officers visited the beach earlier in the day and warned beach goers not to go into the water as advisories had been issued by the Meteorological Department. However, the witness said, after the police left the area, the tourists went back into the water.
There was also a sign posted at the beach’s entrance warning swimmers that there was no lifeguard on duty.
Police say the victim was an employee of the Celebrity Infinity Cruise Ship that was in port in Nassau.
Investigations continue.
Comments
henny 11 years ago
Very sad. People need to listen when advised not to do something that could cause a problem or injury. In this case death.
SP 11 years ago
Now why in the world would a smart-ass foreigner listen to Bahamian police officers?
concernedcitizen 11 years ago
@SP ,Nothing like a little xenophopia ,foreigner bashing ,and superiority to mask inferiority to go along w/ a death of someones loved one ,,yippie
lazybor 11 years ago
Lesson learned...
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jamesmejia05 11 years ago
What I understood in written a blog was that, the paragraph should be in the pyramid form but starting from the end till the start. http://petorucci.com/">Petorucci.com
TheObjectiveVoice 11 years ago
This is very sad because it could have been avoided. The police took the time to go on the beach to warn beachgoers but they did not heed the warning.... sad.Praying for his family.
malcolm1135 11 years ago
I wonder if I had not known this person I would feel the same way. Lesson learned??? This was a funny, goofy, talented man who was loved by all who met him and known for his kind and loving nature. He never knew a stranger. Many went back in the water. The only lesson learned here is that life is short. Please, say a prayer for his family instead of passing judgement. He will be not only mourned, but gravely missed by past, present and what=would-be future friends
blah 11 years ago
This man's name is Will Lovell, and he was my very good friend for 14 years. Please refrain from posting insensitive comments on here concerning this tragedy. Will was a good and beautiful person to the core, and we in the Salt Lake, Los Angeles and other communities are mourning his loss greatly. Thank you for your understanding.
concernedcitizen 11 years ago
Prayers and thoughts over your loss,,,,,,,,,,,
LudwigWikifoo 11 years ago
This person is my friend, too. This story and some of the comments that were made upon it are an example of "shallow content." The information presented is simply not good enough for us to get any accurate sense of what happened. The photo was taken from Facebook. Is this picture accurate? Likely. But, it tells us very little about the situation. We don't know what the beach patrol said to the people in the water that day and whether or not their warning was dire enough to impress a sense of danger upon the people in the water.
Here is what I do know. This person is my friend and I am going to celebrate his life. He was a central component and pillar of many communities provided in some of the comments found above. Our time here is too short to worry about the details that may involve how we leave this world.
Live. Sing. Breathe. Be....
TSurges 11 years ago
I'm glad there is a name to this man, may he rest in peace. Yes, the picture is accurate. The waves were wild and the undertow wicked. There are flags along the beach warning people when it is not safe to swim. Will went out past the buoys (we are staying at the RIU hotel) and I witnessed this tragedy. The lifeguards from the RIU brought him to shore and many worked to revive him for almost an hour. It was the most horrific thing I've experienced in 53 years of life. For his friends and family, know that myself and many others prayed very hard for his recovery. I'm terribly sorry for your loss to those who personally knew him and his family.
malcolm1135 11 years ago
Thank you.
krislovell 5 years, 2 months ago
I'm Will's mother. It's taken me almost six years to respond to this article. I spoke to Will's shipmates after my son lost his life to this horrific and tragic drowning. One of those friends told us that Will ventured into the water to cool himself off. He was in the water barely up to mid calf, bent down to throw water up up to his face and hair. His friend was watching him when he noticed Will looked like he was in trouble. He yelled to Will asking him him if he was ok, Will yelled back that he needed help. At this point he seemed to be getting pulled out. His friend yelled for him to swim to the buoy and hold on until they could get someone to help. Since resorts have lifeguards, they were able to get the RIU lifeguards to help. After days of their transatlantic crossing, Nassau was their first stop before heading to Miami, after which they would be cruising down through the Panama Canal. I can tell you, Will was very excited to be doing so. They would then be heading to San Diego and heading home for a couple of weeks before returning to his job. His job? A jazz musician, who had 3 years earlier received his Master Degree in Music. One commenter referred to my son as a "smart ass foreigner". One only needs to talk to hundreds of his friends to know he was anything but. Thank you for expressing kind words.
vanessa 11 years ago
I am so disgusted some of these heartless uninformed comments. I was at the beach when this occurred. In my opinion the water seemed slightly rough yet since many people were swimming it was very deceiving - dads were swimming with their kids. I personally did not see any warning sign, flag or authority figure in that area at that time. I was just about to head in when a man on a four wheeler drove by and without explanation told everyone to get out. We were about a football field away from the accident scene and had no idea why we were being told not to swim. Within ten minutes several people got up and returned to the water. There were no second warnings and most in the area hadn't realized what had even happened. Many did not speak English. The fact that no other horrible accidents occurred that day had nothing to do with Bahamian prevention, just pure luck. Aside from this very short article above I have not seen any other news on this tragedy. You cannot help but wonder if they are doing their best to cover it up as not scare off tourists. This is the third drowning at this exact beach since March. And it appears nothing is being done to prevent such tragedies. Wil was a stranger to me but has affected me so much. Any of us could have been him that day and I am so sorry for all you who are mourning him. I am the beach now saying prayers for him and for all of you. Strangely I am not even religious, that's how much this has moved me. I am so sorry and hope so much that this beach will wake up and start by hiring life guards and properly informing all beach goers.
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