Family grieves following tragic drowning

Victim was one of four swimmers in a rescue effort in Port Burwell

It was a chance to get away.

A weekend of relaxation to welcome in the new school year.

But a casual swim in Lake Erie ended tragically for 25-year-old Daniel Albert Sosa-zerebecka last week when the St. Catharines native disappeared under the water.

His body was recovered two days later.

Martha Aguiar said her younger brother died the way he lived his life.

“He was always helping everybody, helping us, and that’s kind of what caused his death. At the end of his life ... he was more focused on trying to save his friend than helping himself, and that’s just the kind of person he was,” she said.

“He had a heart of gold and just always wanting to be around people, always smiling.”

Sosa-zerebecka was one of four swimmers involved in a rescue effort at Port Burwell Provincial Park on the afternoon of Sept. 11.

Aguiar said she was told her brother was swimming in the lake with a friend, who he noticed was struggling in the water. He swam out to help, but it became “too much for both of them.”

Aguiar said her brother went on a yearly camping trip, but this was his first time at Port Burwell.

In a social media post, Ontario Provincial Police Const. Ed Sanchuk confirmed the 25year-old was one of two swimmers who initially became distressed while in the water. Two individuals tried to help, but also began to struggle. Three of the four swimmers were rescued by a “Good Samaritan” who used a life-saving ring.

Born in St. Catharines, Sosazerebecka was raised by his mother, Iwona Zerebecka, and father, Jose Alberto Sosa-cardenas, both of whom immigrated to Canada from Poland and Guatemala, respectively.

The former Niagara College student attended Saint Ann Catholic Elementary School, Saint Nicholas Catholic Elementary School and Saint Francis Catholic Secondary School in St. Catharines. Before the accident, he was entering his second year as a student at Mohawk College.

“We don’t have a big family ... my parents are immigrants. It was just me, my brother, my mom and dad, so it’s really hard for us,” said Aguiar. “He was everything to us.”

Aguiar is expecting her first child, and that’s part of what is hitting her hardest as she grieves. Knowing her younger brother and child will never get a chance to meet and be a part of each other’s lives.

“He was so looking forward to being an uncle and the baby’s due Friday and it’s just really tough,” she said. “I’ll never get pictures with him and the baby together ... I’ll never have cousins now for the baby. My brother never got to start his own family.”

She said her brother loved playing basketball with his friends at the gym and in school. Aguiar said he wore a Boston Celtics jersey with the No. 33 (Larry Bird’s number) and remembers that was his favourite team.

“He just meant everything to us,” she said. “I feel a little overwhelmed with all this.”

But something one of her brother’s friends said at the funeral Monday will stick with her in the days ahead.

“He meant a lot to everybody, so that’s why we feel so much sadness. Because if he hadn’t meant anything, then we wouldn’t feel this terrible heartache right now everybody’s feeling.”