An individual undergoing medical training sustained serious brain trauma following an alleged act where his so-called companions pushed him into a body of water. Christopher Gilbert, 26, who lacked swimming skills, was reportedly forced off a pier at Lake D’Arbonne in Farmerville, Louisiana on April 14.
A distressing event was captured on video. Gilbert made efforts to exit the water for 20 minutes. A female who tentatively entered the water initially retreated after realizing the rescue attempt was unfeasible. Only ten more minutes passed before a member of the public from a nearby eatery intervened and extracted Gilbert from the water.
Upon arriving at the hospital, Gilbert was in a state of brain death. George, his mother, mentioned that the rest of his organs had also started deteriorating, according to The Mirror. George disclosed that her son spent 72 hours on a ventilator, which functioned as “renal replacement therapy for the lungs.”
‘I experienced a sense of termination at that instance’
“I was shattered. I felt like everything had concluded for me in that moment. My son is aiming to become a medical practitioner, my son is destined to become a medical practitioner. He secured his masters last year in biological science. He’s prepping for medical school, so for something like this to have occurred to him … I was utterly devastated,” expressed George, who headed to the hospital upon receiving a call from one of the friends.
“She informed me that Chris had plunged into the lake and had been submerged for roughly 20 minutes,’ George narrated to Fox8. “’And I was like, 20 minutes? How come he was submerged for 20 minutes?’”
“She was in extreme distress, he was being flown to Shreveport. Initially, when my son reached there, the physician summoned us and informed me that at that moment he was “virtually brain dead, and the remaining organs were on the verge of failing”,” she added.
Authorities stated that Gilbert’s acquaintance attempted to trivialize the event as “playful activity,” mentioning that he “simply fell headfirst into the water.” Nonetheless, one of them eventually admitted to pushing Gilbert off the structure.
“In the legal domain, we interpret matters according to our perspective,” attorney Claudia Payne remarked. “Naturally, they are describing it as playful activity. We assert that it was an intentional criminal act of shoving into the lake.”
“To compound the situation, following the shove, nobody from the ‘friend circle’ endeavored to assist him. Instead, two courageous passersby, who were unrelated to Chris, overheard the commotion and retrieved his body from the water,” Payne added in a statement.
Though Gilbert is still unable to verbally communicate, he has manifested cognitive reactions. His lung functionality is reportedly at 20% capacity, and he continues to rely on life support.
The family of Gilbert is now demanding an arrest. “Why did you propel my son into the water, knowing he couldn’t swim? ” George questioned.
Source: www.hindustantimes.com