His sister urged others to pay attention to the growing number of drowning deaths in New Jersey this summer.
VERNON -- A 23-year-old man who drowned Friday morning in Lake Conway was the father of two young children, the New Jersey Herald reported.
Rashad Milfort, of Lauderhill, Fl., was identified by his sister Anna Turetskaya, who said the family was spending time at their vacation home in Vernon on Friday. She said his wife, 1-year-old son Roel and 7-year-old daughter Kaydence were swimming in the lake when Milfort began screaming.
Officers and firefighters pulled him from the bottom of the lake around 11 a.m. and administered CPR before transporting Milfort to St. Anthony's Hospital in Warwick, N.Y.
His sister Turetskaya started a fundraising page to raise money to transport Milfort's body back to Florida. The family has raised more than $2,000 in two days.
On the page, Turetskaya urged others to pay attention to the growing number of drowning deaths in New Jersey this summer. As of Friday, 18 people in the state died from drowning.
"There needs to be change made because this is getting too common," she wrote. "The state of New Jersey needs to do something about it."