Drowning victim was caring father, says grieving widow

Amanda Laflair knew something was wrong when her dog came bounding up the path behind her family's apartment building alone with no leash.

The family pet had accompanied Laflair's husband Rowell Navarro and eight-year-old son William to a spot near Westboro Beach to go swimming Wednesday afternoon, another hot, humid day in Ottawa.

"I texted and called my husband and there was no answer, and he wouldn't leave my dog unattended," Laflair told CBC in a telephone interview Thursday.

Her fears were confirmed a short time later when Ottawa police officers knocked on her door and asked to come in.

"And that's when they asked me to sit down and told me there had been a tragic accident," Laflair said.

In a news release issued later Wednesday afternoon, Ottawa police said they were called to the Westboro Beach area around 1:40 p.m. "following reports that a father and child had gone underwater."

According to police, a "quick-thinking member of the public" helped rescue the child, but the father drowned.

The 42-year-old Navarro's body was located a short time later, and despite extensive resuscitation efforts he was pronounced dead at hospital.

Married 16 years

Laflair said she's still trying to piece together exactly what happened.

"My husband and my son and my dog were swimming in the Ottawa River near Westboro Beach and my son went too deep and slipped on a rock and was going under water. And my husband tried to save him," she said.

"[He] was able to get him above the water where somebody was able to jump into the water and bring William out and wait for the paramedics."

She told CBC that her son was a strong swimmer, but wasn't wearing a life-jacket at the time.

Laflair said she and Navarro met when they were both living in Ottawa's shelter system. They married 16 years ago and built a life together, raising three children: Noah, 13, William, 8, and Rebecca, 5.

Hold your loved ones close because you never know — things can change in the blink of an eye.- Amanda Laflair

Laflair works as a personal support worker while Navarro stayed home with their children. She said he was an excellent father who loved taking his kids to the beach and the park to play.

The day of the tragedy, she posted a heartfelt message in a neighbourhood Facebook group, thanking the bystanders who helped, the staff at CHEO who cared for William, and first responders.

"im not ok my kids are not ok but im grateful so very grateful my son is alive and he is healthy," she wrote. "God bless you guardian angels for helping to save my baby."

Grateful for support

Numerous fundraisers have been launched to help the family, and Laflair said she's received many offers of help from community members. She said she's also heard from a woman who witnessed the incident — and who may have had a hand in saving her son — who's offered her ongoing support.

She has been given four days of paid leave from work, and said family members will soon arrive to help her care for her children and cope with the loss of her husband.

Among the immediate tasks they face is contacting the coroner and identifying Navarro's body.

Laflair said she's extremely grateful for the offers of help she's received so far, many of them from strangers.

"We just want to say thank you to everybody that reached out to us and offered their help and their condolences. It really means a lot to us at this time. And we especially want to thank the bystander that risked their life to save my son," Laflair said.

She also offered this advice: "Hold your loved ones close because you never know — things can change in the blink of an eye."