A Samoan is admired for his brave role in the attempted rescue of a 22-year-old international student from India who recently drowned while swimming at Cultus Lake in Canada.
Fa’amanu Tomasi Lapa dove into the water and recovered the body on Manpreet Singh even if it was not enough in the end to try and save his life.
The Canadian media described the 49-year-old Lapa a good Samaritan, who moved to Abbotsford Canada from Lano, Savaii.
He was celebrating his nephew’s birthday on July 25 when he heard and saw the commotion in the water. He grabbed his goggles and ran over to the crowd.
Lapa, who used to be a spearfisher in his native Samoa, said he’s “very comfortable” in water.
Friends of Singh pointed out where the 22-year-old went under and Lapa immediately dove in.
There were people on floaties looking down into the water searching, but Lapa knew since the lake is so dark the only way to find Singh was to go under the surface.
He searched for about 20 minutes with no success.
It was then that he saw that the police and firefighters had arrived, so he swam back to shore figuring they would be diving in.
When he realized the emergency personnel were not going into the water, Lapa headed back into the lake to search a different area. They yelled at him to stop, but he ignored them.
“That’s when I dove again and found him, but it was too late,” he said.
He figured he swam down about 30 feet when he spotted Singh’s orange shorts. The young man was caught in weeds at the bottom of the lake.
Lapa untangled Singh and brought his limp body to the surface, holding onto him tightly.
“I didn’t want to let him go back down.”
He recalled shouting that he found him when he broke the surface.
Singh was located about 10 feet from where the bottom of the lake suddenly drops off.
Lapa carried Singh’s body to the shore as police and firefighters stepped into the water and helped.
“I wish I was in the right spot when I was looking for him in the beginning,” he recalled.
Lapa said Singh did not fall into the water as he wasn’t near the dock nor was he on a boat. He remembers seeing the young man playing around with his friends on the shore before going into the water.
Police later confirmed he was found under the water by a Good Samaritan and brought to shore, but he was unable to be revived.
“My heart and prayers for the family and friends,” Lapa said.
The former native of Samoa and his wife Sarah Lapa have a young family in Canada.