Ryan Dorsey is opening up concerning the devastating lack of Naya Rivera, revealing new particulars concerning the day the “Glee” star tragically drowned at age 33 on July 8, 2020.
Naya Rivera was on a boating journey together with her then 4-year-old son, Josey, at Lake Piru in Ventura County, California. In accordance with reviews and later confirmed by Josey’s account, the 2 went for a swim within the lake.
In some unspecified time in the future, Naya Rivera helped Josey again onto the boat, however she was unable to drag herself up.
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Ryan Dorsey Shares Heartbreaking New Particulars About Naya Rivera’s Ultimate Moments
In his first sit-down interview since Rivera’s passing, Dorsey spoke with PEOPLE Magazine about how their son, Josey, now 9, nonetheless carries a deep sense of guilt over what occurred that day at Lake Piru in Ventura County, California. In accordance with Dorsey, Josey, who was solely 4 years previous on the time, has repeatedly expressed that he tried to assist his mom however was too scared to behave.
“One thing he’s mentioned time and again is that he was looking for a life raft, and there was a rope, however there was an enormous spider on the rope, and he was too scared to throw it,” Dorsey shared. “I hold reassuring him, ‘Buddy, that rope wasn’t going to be lengthy sufficient.'”
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Josey additionally remembers that the wind was sturdy that day, and he initially hesitated to get into the water. Nonetheless, Rivera inspired him, telling him, “Don’t be foolish!”
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Naya Rivera Drowned After Serving to Her Son Again Onto The Boat
As they swam, Rivera observed that the boat had begun to float, an important element that was included within the wrongful demise lawsuit Dorsey later filed against Ventura County, which was settled in 2022. The rental boat lacked an anchor and flotation gadgets, which might have helped forestall the tragedy.
Realizing the boat was shifting away, Rivera urged Josey to swim again. The younger boy recalled grabbing onto “the tanks” and pulling himself “across the boat” whereas his mom labored to get him to security.
In accordance with incident reviews, Rivera finally drowned after exhausting herself serving to Josey again onto the boat.
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“He mentioned that the very last thing she mentioned was his title, after which she went below, and he didn’t see her anymore,” Dorsey mentioned. “It simply rocks my world that he needed to witness her final moments.”
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The Second Dorsey Realized Naya Was Lacking
Dorsey came upon Rivera was lacking by way of a cellphone name from her mom’s husband. On the time, he was in a Ralph’s grocery store in Large Bear Lake, California, shopping for provides for a good friend’s birthday barbecue.
“I collapsed right into a pallet of drinks,” Dorsey recalled. “I feared the worst.”
With out hesitation, he raced 145 miles to Lake Piru, determined to succeed in his son. “I drove 100-and-something the entire manner with my four-way hazards on, chain-smoking cigarettes, and I don’t even smoke, actually, and simply crying,” he mentioned. “I simply wished to get to Josey.”
When authorities discovered Josey alone and asleep on the drifting boat, it confirmed everybody’s worst fears. Rivera had disappeared beneath the water three hours earlier, and the seek for her physique had begun.
Coping With Loss And Preserving Naya’s Reminiscence Alive
After 5 days of looking, authorities recovered Rivera’s physique on July 13, 2020, in a distant a part of the lake. “When it occurred, I simply discovered myself shaking my head, like, ‘I can not imagine she’s gone,’” Dorsey admitted. “It is nonetheless so surreal every single day.”
Within the years for the reason that tragedy, Dorsey and Josey have labored to navigate life with out Rivera. Two years in the past, they relocated from Los Angeles to West Virginia, the place they’ve constructed a quieter life. Whereas they’ve made strides in therapeutic, the vacations stay particularly troublesome.
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“We made this ebook of recollections for Josey that sits by his mattress, and through the holidays he was crying it,” Dorsey shared. “You’ll be able to solely give him a hug and inform him, ‘I do know, life just isn’t truthful. Dangerous issues occur and there isn’t any motive for it, and also you simply must do your greatest to be a great particular person.'”
He admits that discovering the precise phrases to elucidate the tragedy continues to be a problem.
“It is exhausting attempting to elucidate issues which you could’t actually make sense of it doesn’t matter what age you’re,” he mentioned. “I am not an enormous believer in all the pieces occurs for a motive as a result of I can not ever consider a motive why he would not have his mother.”
Shifting Ahead
Regardless of the ache, Josey stays a brilliant and joyful little one, bringing pleasure to these round him.
“He wakes up joyful, all vitality,” Dorsey mentioned. “I’m attempting to be the perfect mother or father that I may be and lift a great little man. He offers me a motive to maintain going with my life.”
Although the lack of Rivera will all the time be deeply felt, Dorsey continues to honor her reminiscence by elevating Josey with love, resilience, and energy—values that Rivera herself embodied.
