Naya Rivera's father has recalled that he urged her not to go swimming before her death.
Naya Rivera
The 'Glee' actress died at the age of 33 in July 2020 after drowning at Lake Piru in California while swimming with her four-year-old son Josey – who was found alive on their rented boat – and George Rivera recalled the horrible feeling he had after what turned out to be the pair's final FaceTime call.
George told People magazine: "She would always bounce stuff off me. And she wanted to go swimming with Josey out in the middle of the lake."
The avid boater admits that he was alarmed when his daughter informed him that the boat didn't have an anchor.
George said: "I could see the wind was blowing and my stomach was just cringing. I kept telling her, 'Don't get out of the boat! Don't get out of the boat! It will drift away when you're in the water.' It was just heartbreaking.
"I had this bad feeling that was just killing me."
Naya's body was found in the lake five days after the incident by Ventura County police with a medical report revealing that she drowned after exhausting herself as she struggled to get Josey back on the boat and George doubts that he will ever find "closure" from the tragedy.
He shared: "It's still pretty much a big blur of pain almost a year later. Things are slowly coming a little more into focus, but I don't know if I'll ever find closure from this. I miss her every day."
A post-mortem report explained how Naya raised her arm and called for help during her last moments.
The report said: "She helped him onto the boat and he then heard (his mother) yell 'help' and she put her arm in the air. She then disappeared into the water."
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