Dad dies while saving daughter from drowning
SAN FRANCISCO (WCMH) – A San Francisco man drowned while kayaking south of Rio Vista on Sunday afternoon after helping to save his daughter.
The man, who has been identified by the Sacramento County coroner’s office as 40-year-old Roni Avila Alvarado, was kayaking with his 5-year-old daughter in Three Mile Slough, part of the Brannan Island State Recreation Area, when their kayak overturned, according to Sacramento County sheriff’s Sgt. Tony Turnbull.
Both Alvarado and the girl went under initially, but he surfaced with her and held her above the water until she could be picked up by another person on a jet ski in the area, KRON reported.
He then went under again and did not resurface. Neither the father nor the daughter wore a life jacket.
“I still don’t want to believe it. I really don’t want to,” his daughter, Maria, 11, told KTVU. “I want this all to be just a dream, but it’s not.”
The incident was reported a little before 2:30 p.m. A search was conducted by the U.S. Coast Guard and Solano County and Sacramento County units. Alvarado’s body was recovered a little after 11 p.m.