VIDEO shows the moment a man struggles in a lake after allegedly being pushed in by a pal who knew he couldn't swim, according to his family.
Christopher Gilbert, 26, was rushed to the hospital and put on life support but has started to make a remarkable recovery after doctors said he was practically “brain dead.”
Gilbert was with friends when he ended up in Lake D'Arbonne in Farmerville, Louisiana, near the Arkansas border, on April 14.
A female friend allegedly pushed Gilbert off a dock at the back of a restaurant that the group had visited.
Gilbert, an aspiring doctor who had recently earned his master's degree and planned to go to medical school, was thought to have been underwater for around 10 minutes.
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A video, shared by CBS affiliate KSLA seemed to show a group of people looking into the water as they stood or sat on the dock.
One person appeared to jump into the water from the dock, but it was a good Samaritan unaffiliated with the group who pulled Gilbert from the lake.
Dawson Foust, 20, was also dining at the restaurant when he rushed into the water and pulled Gilbert out.
NEAR-DEATH
Gilbert was flown to Ochsner LSU Health, where he was placed on life support with significant brain damage, his family said.
“The doctor called us in and told me that, at that time, he was brain dead and the rest of his organs were starting to fail," his mom said.
"That we had 72 hours on the ECMO machine. It’s sort of like dialysis for the lungs and they had to put him on a ventilator.”
Gilbert has been in the hospital for two weeks but is beginning to make a steady recovery.
He started to eat again and communicate through hand gestures after being taken off life support, according to the family’s lawyer, Claudia Payne.
Gilbert's friends, meanwhile, alleged that they did not know Gilbert could not swim.
Gilbert’s mother, Yolanda, said she didn't believe that was true as her son told lots of people that he couldn't, she told KSLA.
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“Everybody knows he can’t swim,” the mother said.
“He jokes about him not being able to swim.”
It is currently unclear what exactly happened to Gilbert that day and how he ended up in the lake.
CALLING FOR ACTION
His family is reportedly preparing to file a civil lawsuit against the restaurant, according to the New York Post.
The suit would allege the establishment, which served alcohol, did not sufficiently restrict access to the water.
Gilbert's family is also reportedly looking for a woman in the friendship group to be arrested.
“Had Chris, a black male, pushed a white female into a lake, he would be arrested,” lawyer Payne said.
“I’ve defended alleged criminals with less evidence that they’ve made arrests on."
His mother claimed one of the friends initially told her that Gilbert fell into the lake, KSLA reported.
“A friend of his called and she was hysterical crying. She told me that Chris fell into the lake and he had been underwater for 10 minutes or so,” Yolanda said.
However, after further investigation, they found that he was actually pushed.
“In the legal field, we characterize things the way we see fit. Of course, they are saying horseplay. We are saying that it was a criminal intentional push into the lake,” Payne alleged.
The U.S. Sun has reached out to family lawyer Claudia Payne and Rhett’s Tails and Shells for comment.
