Doctor recounts attempt to save Malcolm-Jamal Warner from drowning: ‘no vital signs'
The Cosby Show star, 54, died by drowning last Sunday after he and his 8-year-old daughter got caught in a rip tide, the latter of whom was rescued by a bystander. His death was ruled accidental, and the cause was confirmed as asphyxiation by submersion.
'There were very few people on the beach, and the sea was rough,' the holidaying doctor, who requested to remain anonymous, told Us Weekly, adding they were about 200 metres (660 feet) away at the time they heard people crying for help.
'I ran to the area and entered the sea with my surfboard, heading into the rip current toward the person being pointed at by some beachgoers. After a few minutes, I saw a shadow, dove down and pulled the person out.'
He spotted another Good Samaritan, who tried to assist 'without any rescue equipment' lying on the shore and trying to breathe.
'Immediately, [first responders] began providing first aid to Malcolm, but he had no vital signs,' the doctor said. 'Two tourists ran over to help. They identified themselves as doctors, making a total of three physicians at the scene.'
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Doctor recounts attempt to save Malcolm-Jamal Warner from drowning: ‘no vital signs'
The doctor who tried to save the late Malcolm-Jamal Warner from 'rough' waters in Costa Rica last weekend has broken their silence. The Cosby Show star, 54, died by drowning last Sunday after he and his 8-year-old daughter got caught in a rip tide, the latter of whom was rescued by a bystander. His death was ruled accidental, and the cause was confirmed as asphyxiation by submersion. 'There were very few people on the beach, and the sea was rough,' the holidaying doctor, who requested to remain anonymous, told Us Weekly, adding they were about 200 metres (660 feet) away at the time they heard people crying for help. 'I ran to the area and entered the sea with my surfboard, heading into the rip current toward the person being pointed at by some beachgoers. After a few minutes, I saw a shadow, dove down and pulled the person out.' He spotted another Good Samaritan, who tried to assist 'without any rescue equipment' lying on the shore and trying to breathe. 'Immediately, [first responders] began providing first aid to Malcolm, but he had no vital signs,' the doctor said. 'Two tourists ran over to help. They identified themselves as doctors, making a total of three physicians at the scene.'
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Malcolm-Jamal Warner the actor who played teenage son Theo Huxtable on The Cosby Show, has died at age 54 in an accidental drowning in Costa Rica, authorities there said. Costa Rica's Judicial Investigation Department said on Monday that Warner drowned on Sunday afternoon. He was on holiday with his family and had been swimming in the Caribbean at Playa Cocles in Limon province when he was pulled out to sea by a rip current. 'He was rescued by people on the beach,' the department's initial report said, but first responders from Costa Rica's Red Cross found him without vital signs and he was taken to the morgue. Warner created many television moments etched in the memories of Generation X children and their parents, including a pilot-episode argument with Bill Cosby's Cliff Huxtable about money and an ear piercing he tries to hide from his dad. His Theo was the only son among four daughters in the household of Cliff and Clair Huxtable, played by Phylicia Rashad, on the NBC sitcom, and he would be one of the prime representations of American teenage boyhood on a show that was the most popular in America for much of its run from 1984 to 1992. Warner played the role for eight seasons in all 197 episodes, winning an Emmy nomination for supporting actor in a comedy in 1986.
