This is the heartbreaking moment an 18-month-old boy hugs photos of his pregnant mum and dad who drowned on their 'babymoon' holiday.
Little Logan has been orphaned in a heart-wrenching turn of events after his parents drowned snorkelling in Hawaii. Sophia Tsaruk and her husband Ilya, looking forward to celebrating a new baby on the way, had eagerly started their Hawaiian babymoon with snorkeling at Ahihi-Kinau last Saturday morning. Alongside them were Ilya's sister, Taisiya Tsaruk, her husband Anatoliy, and another couple, ready for beach fun before kicking off their vacation festivities. The six were headed for the beach on the west end of the island before their first full day of vacation.
Sophia, aged 26 and carrying her child at 30 weeks and not confident in her swimming ability, had shared that she was feeling slightly unwell before venturing into the water with her gear on the first day of their trip. Taisiya recalled the condition that day, saying: "The water was calm, there was no, like, out of the ordinary weather conditions or anything like that. We thought we were good. What could possibly happen?"
Their snorkelling group dispersed to different areas to enjoy the underwater sights when an unnerving disruption occurred after separating, another snorkelling alerted Taisiya of screams heard from the ocean.
Emergency services were called to a tragic scene at around 12.02 PM, reported the Mirror US. Responders on jet skis discovered Sophia lifeless in the water. They managed to pull her to shore, while other crews continued the search for Illya, eventually finding him unresponsive on the sea-bed some 100 yards from the beach.
The desperate rescue efforts to save the couple were captured on video by an onlooker as their distraught relatives watched on. Taisiya speculated that the snorkel masks they were wearing could have contributed to the fatal incident.
"When we were in the water I experienced a loss of breath like I couldn't breathe," Taisiya said. "I felt like the mask was just suffocating me and I had to rip my mask off to breathe. They both drowned, but she did not have her mask on, which is, I don't know."
Despite multiple attempts to revive them, the couple was pronounced dead at the water's edge. Following the incident, social media in Hawaii has been flooded with messages from heartbroken locals cautioning about the risks associated with snorkel masks, especially for those who are not adept at using them.
"There have been multiple drownings due to these masks," Kristina Lopez-Mata, a local, commented online. "They need to ban them, it's an ongoing issue here."
The couple's eighteen-month-old son, Logan, is now staying with an aunt and uncle following the tragic loss of his parents. A GoFundMe campaign was set up to raise funds for the child and to bring the couple's remains home, which has since surpassed its $100,000 goal after being launched on Sunday.
"There's just not a moment he's alone," Sophia's older sister, Ilona Tsymbalyuk, claimed. "Everybody's constantly rotating wanting to hold him because they left a little bit of him and her in him."
Taisiiya revealed that the couple were overjoyed at the prospect of giving Logan a baby sister and had travelled to Hawaii to celebrate Sophia's pregnancy.