New information is coming out of Costa Rica surrounding the drowning death of actor Malcolm-Jamal Warner.
The Cosby Show star, 54, died on Sunday, July 20 when he was swept deep into the ocean by a strong current while swimming at Playa Cocles in Limon province.
NBC News sent a reporter to the beach where Warner died.
The outlet spoke with Mike Geist, who helps run a volunteer lifeguard organization in the province. Geist said there was no lifeguard on duty Sunday and coastal waters in the area can be dangerous.
“It’s similar to other beaches where there are strong rip currents that are deceiving,” Geist explained.
He said one of his friends, who is a trained lifeguard, was off duty but happened to be surfing nearby. The man saw Warner in distress, rushed over, and pulled the actor onto his surfboard.
“The first thing that they do is give them emergency respirations, right there in the water on the surfboard,” Geist said. He added that Warner was unresponsive and his friend brought him to the beach where first responders performed CPR.
Sources told NBC that Warner was on vacation with his wife and daughter.
People magazine spoke with Costa Rica’s Judicial Investigation Agency, which said another person “entered the sea” to try to help Warner, instead the person suffered critical injuries.
The individual, whose name has not been publicly released, was described as an adult male with no relation to the actor. The man suffered serious injuries and is now hospitalized in critical condition.
The Costa Rican Red Cross told People its employees tended to Warner and the second man. The workers performed CPR on Warner for 20 minutes, but they were unable to revive him. He was declared deceased at the scene and taken to a morgue. His cause of death was listed as accidental asphyxiation by submersion.
Warner was a former child actor, best known for playing Theo Huxtable on The Cosby Show, which aired on NBC from 1984 to 1992.
Throughout his career, he had parts on more than 60 different television shows, according to his IMDb page.
He also directed episodes of The Cosby Show, All That, Keenan & Kel, and Sesame Street; and was a Grammy Award-winning bass player.
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About Anita Bennett
Anita Bennett is the editor and founder of Urban Hollywood 411. She can be reached on Twitter @tvanita.
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