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Naya Rivera‘s ex Ryan Dorsey is speaking out in his first major interview since her tragic passing. She passed at the age of 33 after drowning on Lake Piru while boating with their son Josey, who was four years old at the time. Ryan is revealing what Josey, now 9, remembers from that day in July 2020, and the details are heartbreaking. Keep reading to find out more… First, Ryan revealed his reaction when he heard Naya was missing in the lake from Naya‘s mother’s husband via a phone call. Ryan told People, “I instantly said, ‘What do you mean? She knows how to swim.’ He said, ‘They jumped in, and Josey got back on, and they’re trying to find Naya.’ I collapsed into a pallet of drinks. I didn’t know what to think, but I feared the worst.” “I drove 100-and-something the whole way with my four-way hazards on, chain-smoking cigarettes — and I don’t even smoke, really — and just crying. I just wanted to get to Josey,” he shared. Josey recalls that it was windy that day, and he was worried about getting in the water. He remembers Naya telling him, “Don’t be silly!” The boat began drifting and Naya told Josey to swim back. He remembers “the tanks” and trying to pull himself “around the boat.” Police believed Naya used all her energy to heroically save Josey. Ryan recalled, “He said that the last thing she said was his name, and then she went under, and he didn’t see her anymore. It just rocks my world that he had to witness her last moments.” He continued, “Something he’s said over and over is that he was trying to find a life raft, and there was a rope, but there was a big spider on the rope, and he was too scared to throw it. I keep reassuring him, ‘Buddy, that rope wasn’t going to be long enough.’ That obviously still sticks out in his head because he feels like he could have saved her. I think she just got caught up in a brush — that or a weird undercurrent from the dam. It was just a freak occurrence.” Our continued thoughts are with Josey, Ryan, and Naya‘s family.
