Father drowns saving 6-year-old son after kayak overturns

1 hour ago

WBBJ 7 Eyewitness News Staff,

LOUISA COUNTY, Va. (WWBT/Gray News) – A Virginia family is grieving after a father drowned while kayaking with his 6-year-old son.

Andrew Knight, 35, and his 6-year-old son were kayaking when witnesses say their kayak overturned. The father drowned while pushing the kayak back to shore.(The Knight Family)

Andrew Knight, 35, and his 6-year-old son were kayaking Tuesday night on Lake Anna in Louisa when witnesses say their kayak overturned about 50 feet from shore. Neither were wearing life jackets at the time, according to Louisa County Sheriff’s deputies.

Witnesses say Knight was trying to push the kayak back to shore when he suddenly went under and never resurfaced. The Spotsylvania County dive team later recovered his body.

“He was a hard worker, and he loved his kids,” said David Drake, who would have been Knight’s father-in-law. “He was a good man. He would stop and help anybody, like people should when they’re in need.”

Officials say the tragedy could have been much worse if not for a good Samaritan who helped pull Knight’s son out of the water.

“If it wouldn’t have been for him, I would have lost my son-in-law and my grandchild because my grandchild was under the water, and he reached down and grabbed him and pulled him up,” Drake said.

“That child, I would imagine, owes his life to a concerned citizen,” said Lt. Chuck Love with the sheriff’s office. “Our sheriff takes those kind of things into account and actually does lifesaving awards for individuals like that.”

The 6-year-old is lucky to be alive, but his life has been forever changed by the incident.

“He’s just seen his dad go under the water, and that was it,” Drake said. “That’s going to be a memory that I wish I could take from him. I wish I could do anything to take that from him.”

Officials say the investigation is ongoing.

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