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Tomasz Gladkowski is being remembered by his family as a hero.
The 39-year-old Mississauga man drowned Sunday at Port Albert main beach — located on Lake Huron north of Goderich, Ont. — after trying to rescue his eight-year-old son David.
“Everyone told me today — the police, the victim services — that he was a hero, he saved his life,” said Tomasz’s father, Joe Gladkowski, 62, in a phone interview Monday evening from his Waterloo home.
“The water took (David) to the big lake. My son noticed that and he jumped right away and he saved David’s life. He was already very weak and didn’t make it back. He was a hero.”
Emergency workers rushed to the beach — about 240 kilometres west of Toronto — around 3:30 p.m. after receiving a report of three swimmers in distress.
Gladkowski and another man went into the water to rescue David, who was struggling in the strong current at the mouth of the Nine Mile River in Lake Huron, police said.
The boy and the other man made it back to shore safely, but Tomasz was overcome by the powerful undertow and disappeared, police said.
The Canadian Coast Guard, a rescue helicopter from Trenton, Ont., and two OPP boats searched for Tomasz, whose body was found about 150 metres from the shore at 1:45 p.m.
“It was a terrible night,” the senior Gladkowski said. “My two grown sons came from Toronto and broke the bad news to me. I spoke to him on Friday and (he) might have stopped here on the way back. He was very smart, very handy and always ready to help others. Everyone could rely on him.”
Tomasz’s family went camping at the site about three or four times a summer, he said. His wife and 10-year-old son, Adam, were with a few other families visiting a friend’s trailer when the incident happened.
Gladkowski said David knew how to swim, but the current was too strong. He said he didn’t know if the child was wearing a lifejacket at the time.
“He’s a very little guy and was taken like a boat,” he said.
Tomasz — the eldest of three brothers — grew up in Kitchener-Waterloo where he went to Conestoga College for webmaster studies. He moved to Mississauga in 1996 to pursue a job at a Polish TV station, TVPolonia, his father said.
“He designed his life for his family,” Gladkowski added. “He was always ready to lend a hand, he never refused.”
The family said they are in the midst of planning Tomasz’s funeral, which will likely be held in Toronto.
“It’s hard to describe,” Gladkowski said of what it’s like to lose a son. “He was the best man on the Earth.”
[email protected]
— With files from QMI
The 39-year-old Mississauga man drowned Sunday at Port Albert main beach — located on Lake Huron north of Goderich, Ont. — after trying to rescue his eight-year-old son David.
“Everyone told me today — the police, the victim services — that he was a hero, he saved his life,” said Tomasz’s father, Joe Gladkowski, 62, in a phone interview Monday evening from his Waterloo home.
“The water took (David) to the big lake. My son noticed that and he jumped right away and he saved David’s life. He was already very weak and didn’t make it back. He was a hero.”
Emergency workers rushed to the beach — about 240 kilometres west of Toronto — around 3:30 p.m. after receiving a report of three swimmers in distress.
Gladkowski and another man went into the water to rescue David, who was struggling in the strong current at the mouth of the Nine Mile River in Lake Huron, police said.
The boy and the other man made it back to shore safely, but Tomasz was overcome by the powerful undertow and disappeared, police said.
The Canadian Coast Guard, a rescue helicopter from Trenton, Ont., and two OPP boats searched for Tomasz, whose body was found about 150 metres from the shore at 1:45 p.m.
“It was a terrible night,” the senior Gladkowski said. “My two grown sons came from Toronto and broke the bad news to me. I spoke to him on Friday and (he) might have stopped here on the way back. He was very smart, very handy and always ready to help others. Everyone could rely on him.”
Tomasz’s family went camping at the site about three or four times a summer, he said. His wife and 10-year-old son, Adam, were with a few other families visiting a friend’s trailer when the incident happened.
Gladkowski said David knew how to swim, but the current was too strong. He said he didn’t know if the child was wearing a lifejacket at the time.
“He’s a very little guy and was taken like a boat,” he said.
Tomasz — the eldest of three brothers — grew up in Kitchener-Waterloo where he went to Conestoga College for webmaster studies. He moved to Mississauga in 1996 to pursue a job at a Polish TV station, TVPolonia, his father said.
“He designed his life for his family,” Gladkowski added. “He was always ready to lend a hand, he never refused.”
The family said they are in the midst of planning Tomasz’s funeral, which will likely be held in Toronto.
“It’s hard to describe,” Gladkowski said of what it’s like to lose a son. “He was the best man on the Earth.”
[email protected]
— With files from QMI
