i didn't know the young man. just heard about this on the six o'clock news and thought i'd share. my condolences to the family.
i like what she says at the end of this article. the boy must have been a proud player.
Tuesday, July 6
Teenager Tangled In Boat Line Drowns
By DAVID SOMMER [email protected]
Published: Jul 6, 2004
CLEARWATER - A father pulled his drowning son to the water's surface, the boy entangled in a rope attached to an anchor. Fighting to save the boy, the father cut the line, but he lost him as the current carried the boat away, and his son sank with the anchor.
Christopher Hidalgo, 14, died Monday on the way to Largo Medical Center after his father and others spent 20 minutes searching for his body in water off Sand Key Park.
The teenager, who attended Benito Middle School, in Seffner, was spending the Fourth of July weekend with his father, Wayne Hidalgo, who lives in Belleair Beach. The two were fishing midmorning Monday when the anchor of their small center- console fishing boat became snagged on the bottom, police and relatives said.
The water was about 10 feet deep, and the younger Hidalgo hopped overboard to attempt to free the anchor, Assistant Clearwater Fire Chief Joel Gray said. Wayne Hidalgo steered the boat over the anchor to create slack on the line, Gray said.
The boy became tangled in the line. When his father realized the boy was not coming up, Gray said, he tried to help him from above.
``He had actually pulled him and the anchor up to the water level,'' Gray said.
The boy's mother, Tammy Hidalgo, said her ex-husband told her he was able to pull their son to the surface but was unable to pull him into the boat.
``Wayne brought him up and cut the line, but it was the line from the boat,'' Tammy Hidalgo said. She said her ex- husband thought he was cutting the anchor free from his son but ended up cutting the anchor and her son free from the boat.
Wayne Hidalgo told her he then went overboard with their son still attached to the anchor as the boat drifted away, the mother said.
Gray told The Associated Press that the father made several efforts to grab the boy.
Lifeguards immediately began searching for the boy while fire department divers raced to the scene with the help of the Coast Guard and the Pinellas County Sheriff's Office marine unit, the chief said.
It took about 20 minutes for a diver to find the boy and pull him to the surface, Gray said. Paramedics attempted to revive Hidalgo on the beach before rushing him to Largo Medical Center, where he was pronounced dead, witnesses and police said.
``They were in the water about 20 minutes looking for him,'' witness Steve Shuba told WFLA, News Channel 8. ``It was a long 20 minutes.''
Chris Kaiser, who was fishing with Shuba, said about a dozen paramedics and lifeguards tried to revive the boy once rescuers brought him to shore.
Wayne Hidalgo declined to comment after his son was pronounced dead.
Tammy Hidalgo said she and her son's stepfather, Al Lasswell, were in the process of moving to Brooksville from their New Tampa apartment this weekend and that her son was staying with his father for the July Fourth holiday.
Both sides of the family were supposed to go shopping for the teenager's first car after Monday's fishing expedition, she said.
Christopher Hidalgo planned to fix up the car while waiting to turn 15 in December.
``He was a wheeler and a dealer, my son, and he was going to go places,'' she said.
The boy's passion was paint-ball, and he worked all sorts of odd jobs to pay for his hobby, Tammy Hidalgo said.
``I'm going to bury him in his outfit with his gun,'' she said.
i like what she says at the end of this article. the boy must have been a proud player.
Tuesday, July 6
Teenager Tangled In Boat Line Drowns
By DAVID SOMMER [email protected]
Published: Jul 6, 2004
CLEARWATER - A father pulled his drowning son to the water's surface, the boy entangled in a rope attached to an anchor. Fighting to save the boy, the father cut the line, but he lost him as the current carried the boat away, and his son sank with the anchor.
Christopher Hidalgo, 14, died Monday on the way to Largo Medical Center after his father and others spent 20 minutes searching for his body in water off Sand Key Park.
The teenager, who attended Benito Middle School, in Seffner, was spending the Fourth of July weekend with his father, Wayne Hidalgo, who lives in Belleair Beach. The two were fishing midmorning Monday when the anchor of their small center- console fishing boat became snagged on the bottom, police and relatives said.
The water was about 10 feet deep, and the younger Hidalgo hopped overboard to attempt to free the anchor, Assistant Clearwater Fire Chief Joel Gray said. Wayne Hidalgo steered the boat over the anchor to create slack on the line, Gray said.
The boy became tangled in the line. When his father realized the boy was not coming up, Gray said, he tried to help him from above.
``He had actually pulled him and the anchor up to the water level,'' Gray said.
The boy's mother, Tammy Hidalgo, said her ex-husband told her he was able to pull their son to the surface but was unable to pull him into the boat.
``Wayne brought him up and cut the line, but it was the line from the boat,'' Tammy Hidalgo said. She said her ex- husband thought he was cutting the anchor free from his son but ended up cutting the anchor and her son free from the boat.
Wayne Hidalgo told her he then went overboard with their son still attached to the anchor as the boat drifted away, the mother said.
Gray told The Associated Press that the father made several efforts to grab the boy.
Lifeguards immediately began searching for the boy while fire department divers raced to the scene with the help of the Coast Guard and the Pinellas County Sheriff's Office marine unit, the chief said.
It took about 20 minutes for a diver to find the boy and pull him to the surface, Gray said. Paramedics attempted to revive Hidalgo on the beach before rushing him to Largo Medical Center, where he was pronounced dead, witnesses and police said.
``They were in the water about 20 minutes looking for him,'' witness Steve Shuba told WFLA, News Channel 8. ``It was a long 20 minutes.''
Chris Kaiser, who was fishing with Shuba, said about a dozen paramedics and lifeguards tried to revive the boy once rescuers brought him to shore.
Wayne Hidalgo declined to comment after his son was pronounced dead.
Tammy Hidalgo said she and her son's stepfather, Al Lasswell, were in the process of moving to Brooksville from their New Tampa apartment this weekend and that her son was staying with his father for the July Fourth holiday.
Both sides of the family were supposed to go shopping for the teenager's first car after Monday's fishing expedition, she said.
Christopher Hidalgo planned to fix up the car while waiting to turn 15 in December.
``He was a wheeler and a dealer, my son, and he was going to go places,'' she said.
The boy's passion was paint-ball, and he worked all sorts of odd jobs to pay for his hobby, Tammy Hidalgo said.
``I'm going to bury him in his outfit with his gun,'' she said.
Sad to see the lose of these lives. I hate it. I hate this world all the crap that goes on makes me sick.
j/j sry i felt like i had to lighten up the subject...sad 
Comment