An immigrant welder who drowned off of Rockaway Beach during a late-night swim was a former lifeguard who told his mother he wanted to go lie on the beach and look at the stars, the Daily News has learned.
Jimmy Rambally, 37, was a strong swimmer, the only one in his family who felt comfortable in the water, his brother said. Going out on a fishing trip wasn’t enough for him. Once the boat was in the water, he had to get out and splash around.
“Besides being a great swimmer, he loved Rockaway Beach,” said Gayaren Rambally, 42. “He went there regularly. I’m pretty sure he knew about the currents and things. It’s not as if it’s the first time he’s been to this beach. He was a regular there. He would bodysurf on the waves.”
But even Rambally’s swimming skills weren’t enough to save him after he disappeared during a late-night dip on July 12.
Rambally’s body washed ashore near Beach 97th St. and Shore Front Parkway about two weeks later.
Rambally, who had been living with his parents since a breakup with his wife several years ago, decided to take a late-night trip to the beach with a friend.
“They were hanging out in the back yard, him and a couple of friends, and he told my mom, ‘I want to see the stars,’” the brother said. “She told him, ‘It’s late at night where are you going?’ ‘I want to see the stars. I want to lay on the beach and I want to see the stars.’ My mom went inside and told my dad, ‘He wants to see the stars,’ and by the time they came back out he had already left. He wanted to lay on the sand and watch the stars. That was the last thing he said to my mom.”
But seeing the stars was not enough for the water lover. After he arrived on the beach with a friend and co-worker, Rambally decided he wanted to go in.
“The friend told him, ‘I can’t swim, I’m not getting in the water,’” Gayaren said. “Jimmy was like, ‘Man, I’m going for a swim. I’m not going to go to the beach and not swim.’ He went in the water, he went under and never came back up.”
Days later, the friend came by the parents’ house.
“He came and sat with us,” the brother said. “He was really distraught over what happened. Obviously, we know it’s not his fault. Jimmy was very headstrong.”
Gayaren said his brother loved the water.
“He was a really good swimmer,” Gayaren said. “No one in the family could really swim, but he swam in high school. He was a lifeguard for a couple years and he loved the water. He loved Rockaway Beach. He loved fishing. He worked his ass off, but he always liked to lay back and have a good time.
“He would go fishing. He had a couple of friends, and they would go fishing. And while fishing, he would jump off, swim around in the ocean and get back on. He was a very good swimmer.
The only thing he liked as much as swimming was fishing, his brother said.
“Whenever he had free time, he would take fishing trips, go out Saturday, come back Sunday afternoon,” Gayaren said. “And he would have a big bucket of fish, and say, ‘Dad, I caught this. Let’s eat.’ He loved doing that.”
In the days before Rambally’s body washed ashore, Gayaren said their mother held out hope. That’s what mothers do.
“I was kind of expecting this,” he said. “You’re always going to have some hope that he’s going to pop up and say, ‘Surprise.’ Personally, I was expecting it. My mom kept saying over and over in her mind, he’s going to come home.”
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