JACKSON, Ga. — Family members remember Patrick Jason Gilbert, a man who drowned at Lake Sinclair in Putnam County.
Gilbert and his 18-year-old daughter were in a boat when it hit something in the water and Gilbert lost his footing. We spoke with family members about the accident and the changes they want to see.
Richard Gilbert is Patrick's brother. He says his younger brother was a man with a heart of gold.
"He was more than my brother, he was my best friend. Him and I always went places together,” he says.
Richard Gilbert says that they grew up on the lakes together. His niece who was on the boat says she tried to save her dad by driving the boat, but it wouldn't move, so she dove into the water after him.
"She grabbed his hand and tried to pull him up. He ended up just pushing her away from him, and then he went under and she didn't find him,” Richard Gilbert says.
Richard Gilbert says that Patrick's sacrifice shows the type of man he was.
“I think that signifies how close and how much he loved his kids and how much they loved him,” Richard Gilbert said.
Richard and the state Department of Natural Resources confirm that lifejackets were on the boat. The boat Patrick was using was 24 feet long and 6 feet wide. Richard says his brother never expected to be thrown out of a boat that size, which is why he was more comfortable not wearing a lifejacket.
"Hardly anybody wears lifejackets on anything big. They'll wear them on Sea-Doos, they'll wear them on a kayak or a canoe, but when you're in these bass boats – just like the one behind me– you don't wear a lifejacket,” Gilbert says.
Georgia law currently requires a lifejacket to be on the boat, but adults aren't required to wear them. Richard has been talking to senators to change legislation so that you'll have to wear them at all times on a boat.
"Me and a lot of my friends and family who also didn't wear lifejackets have stated that we'll always wear them, and anybody in our boat, they either have the option to wear a lifejacket or stay home,” Gilbert says.
Jason Bennett, game warden for the Department of Natural Resources, says that in 2021, there were 20 drownings and four fatalities around the Lake Sinclair area, so he has some advice to give.
"You never know when you're going to need it, you don't know when it could happen. Water is very unforgiving, so you want to take all the precautions you can, so I'll say wear your lifejackets. That's the best advice I can give,” Bennett says.
The Gilbert family thanks rescuers for working so quickly to find their loved one's body after the drownings. State wardens say with the summer coming up, it's best to always wear your lifejacket when on the water.