PONTE VEDRA BEACH, Fla. – The Telugu Association of Jacksonville Area (TAJA) is helping a family of a man and his son who were caught in a rip current at Micklers Beach Saturday.
The 44-year-old father Rajesh Potti was trying to save his 12-year-old son from drowning, according to onlookers at the beach.
Both were taken to the hospital in critical condition. The father died.
TAJA said while the son is home from the hospital and moving around, the family is doing the best they can to cope with Potti’s loss.
“I was one of the first ones to receive the call from the first responders through a friend, and we rushed to the hospital,” Sreedhar Dogiparthy said with TAJA.
Mahesh Bachu also with TAJA said luckily the son survived.
“He was in ICU but you know yesterday the doctor treated him he was out of danger and they discharged him to home in the afternoon,” Bachu said.
The 12-year-old son, his sister and their mother have only been in Florida for five weeks. They moved here straight from India to join Potti to live out their American dream.
Bachu said Potti, who worked as a software engineer, moved to the country six to eight months ago.
“It’s a loss to the family and you know he’s the breadwinner to that family,” Bachu said. “The wife is still coping she’s just five weeks into this country.”
Bachu said the family will send the dad’s body back to India and even though the mom and two kids just moved here weeks ago they’re now planning to move back as well.
He also said what makes this death so sad is he believes Potti and his son probably didn’t know what rip currents were.
“Not many people are used to go to the beaches so not many people know about the rip currents in India especially,” Bachu said.
Bachu said after this incident many people have stepped up to help the family from driving them around to helping them pack up their home to move back to India.
He said they are also raising money for the family. You can donate here.