Naya Rivera's son tried to throw her a rope
Naya Rivera's son tried to throw her a rope in a bid to save her from drowning but was too "scared".
Naya Rivera's son tried to throw her a rope in a bid to save her from drowning.
The 'Glee' actress passed away while swimming off a rental boat with son Josey, now nine, in Lake Piru, California, in July 2022, and the youngster's father, Ryan Dorsey, has told how his boy still feels guilty for not being able to help his mom get out of the water.
Ryan told People magazine: "Something he’s said over and over is that he was trying to find a life raft, and there was a rope, but there was a big spider on the rope, and he was too scared to throw it.
"I keep reassuring him, ‘Buddy, that rope wasn’t going to be long enough.' "
Josey, who was just four at the time, remembered it was a windy day and he worried about getting into the water but Naya reassured him.
After some time out in the water, the actress noticed the boat was drifting and told her son to swim back. Ryan explained Josey remembers grabbing "the tanks" and pulling himself "around the boat" but tragically watched as his mom slipped under the surface.
Ryan said: "He said that the last thing she said was his name, and then she went under, and he didn’t see her anymore.
"It just rocks my world that he had to witness her last moments.”
Ryan recalled getting a call from Naya's mom Yolanda's husband to say she was missing while he was at the supermarket buying food for a friend's barbecue, prompting him to immediately drive 145 miles to the lake.
He said: “I collapsed into a pallet of drinks. I feared the worst.
“I drove 100-and-something the whole way with my four-way hazards on, chain-smoking cigarettes — and I don’t even smoke, really — and just crying. I just wanted to get to Josey.”
"If we’d have lost both Naya and Josey, I don’t know how I would continue on with my life. I don't know what I would've done, but I'm sure it wouldn't have been good."
Josey was found alone asleep on an adrift boat, and after five days of searching, Naya's body was found in a remote part of the lake.
Ryan reflected: “When it happened, I just found myself shaking my head, like, 'I can't believe she's gone'. It's still so surreal every day."
The 41-year-old actor - who was married to the actress between 2014 and 2018 - admitted it is "hard" for him to help Josey make sense of his mom's death, but the youngster is still "such a happy kid".
He said: "We made this book of memories for Josey that sits by his bed, and during the holidays he was crying looking at it.
"You can only give him a hug and tell him, 'I know, life is not fair. Bad things happen and there's no reason for it, and you just have to do your best to be a good person.'
"It's hard trying to explain things that you can't really make sense of no matter what age you are. I'm not a big believer in everything happens for a reason because I can't ever think of a reason why he doesn't have his mom...
"He wakes up happy, all energy. I’m trying to be the best parent that I can be and raise a good little man. He gives me a reason to keep going with my life."
