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Brent Taylor, 45, was about 100 yards off shore when he started flailing and yelling for help, Captain Stephen Crow of the Matagorda County Sheriff’s Office said.
Taylor’s daughters, Mandy and Michelle Taylor noticed their father and brother, also named Brent Taylor, were struggling. Two people – one with a kayak another with a belly board – pulled the Taylors from the water, Crow said.
“They were able to rescue the son, but when they got to the father, he was unconscious,” Crow said. The man never regained consciousness. He was pronounced dead at Matagorda General Hospital, Crow said.
The younger Brent Taylor was flown to a hospital in Houston because he swallowed a lot of salt water, Crow said. Crow did not know where Taylor was taken.
Deputies also don’t know the names of the people who dragged the father and son from the water. They left as deputies and paramedics treated the family, Crow said.
People should wear life jackets if they plan to wade farther than knee-deep into the Gulf, Crow said.
“That undercurrent will continue to slowly but surely pull you away,” Crow said.
Leslie Wilber is a reporter for the Victoria Advocate. Contact her at 361-580-6521 or e-mail her at lwilber@vicad.com. or comment on this story at www.VictoriaAdvocate.com