02-07-2025
Heartbroken family's tribute to East Lothian fisherman after tragic drowning
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The heartbroken family of an East Lothian fisherman have spoken for the first time since his death in the hope of preventing future tragedies.
Łukasz Kasperczyk was just 32 years-old when he drowned at Dunbar Harbour in a catastrophic accident. Originally from Poland, Łukasz was enjoying a day out with friends when events took a traumatic turn.
Speaking to Edinburgh Live, his family said he was clambering over rocks alone and fell "face first into a small body of water" where he was later pronounced dead. He left behind his girlfriend, son, sister, dad and five nieces. He passed away on June 30, 2017.
Łukasz' niece, Ewelina Wybraniec, 24, said she had a "really close" relationship with her uncle before losing him when she was 16 years-old.
She said: "He was an amazing guy and he was always there for my mum. We lost my granny the year prior to my uncle so my mum was in the middle of grieving when this happened. She lost him when he was 32.
"It's been eight years now. We were so close - he was the only man in my life. I was 16, so I was only a baby navigating grief and it was really hard.
"A group of friends had organised a fishing trip at Dunbar harbour. It was around 4pm and my uncle was pronounced dead at 5.30pm.
"He left the car while they were unpacking things because he wanted to look at the rocks. They don't know what happened, there was nobody there.
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"Apparently he fainted because my uncle fell straight onto his face - his cause of death was drowning. He fell face first in a small body of water. The puddles have such a small amount of water so it's really bizarre thinking about how he drowned in that. It was a horrible accident, it took five minutes and he was gone."
Working at a factory, Łukasz was loved by everyone who knew him. He moved to Scotland in 2013.
Ewelina added: "He was the favourite worker and everyone adored him. He loved the outdoors and fishing, so he would have known it was dangerous. I just don't understand why he would even attempt to climb the rocks.
"It's so important to think about the safety of being near the water. Nobody realises how dangerous it is out there on the rocks, one wrong move and something drastic can happen.
"Nobody takes it into consideration. I definitely didn't and I would never have thought it would happen to us as a family. I went on to have my own son who I named Lucas to honour him."
