Lost... and Found

The body of the little boy I blogged about a few days ago was found today.

Here's the story.

The father's words ripped me to pieces.

From http://www.independentmail.com/:

"I'm not a wealthy man. You know, some people have cars, some people have boats and lake houses and beach houses, they go on trips. I have my children, and my children are my love and they are priceless. You can’t buy what Joshua gave us for three years. We didn’t know he touched so many lives. … People see his picture and if you look in his eyes, you know only, only God could create something so beautiful. He was an angel when he was with us, and he is in Heaven now."

"We had sailed all morning,” he said. “The wind died down, so I paddled us in and we ate lunch on the shore. He ate lunch with his mommy. He played around in the water with his swimmies for a while. Then, his Mommy said ‘I think he needs a nap.’ I said ‘Let’s go sailing.’ ”

Covered in sunscreen and towels, and surrounded by cushions, the father and son went sailing, found a quiet, windless spot and Joshua went to sleep. Mr. Dorchak says a gust of wind hit the boat unexpectedly. The boat was capsized sending father
and son into the water. Mr. Dorchak says he righted the boat and the two climbed back in.

Not long after, another gust of wind hit the boat, he says.

Again, he grabbed for Joshua and put Joshua on his back. But this time Joshua, he says, was being dragged underwater.

Officials believe Joshua became entangled in the boat’s rigging which pulled him under with the boat. “I tried to hold on. I held on until I was maybe, I don’t know, it could have been five, it could have been 50-feet under water,” he says. “I wanted to go with him so badly, but I couldn’t hold my breath any longer. I saw his face drift away from me under the water. I had to come up for air.”

The grieving father says he struggles with not being able to switch places with his son.

“I blame myself, to a degree. I shouldn’t but I do. I wanted to die when he went under. But, I have four other children and another on the way, and a wife who depends on me to pay the bills and to get this family back on its feet,” he said. “I have to be the Dad, and the Dad is supposed to make things right. That’s what disturbs me the most is that I couldn’t make it better.”

Say a prayer for the Dorchak family, will you?