Witness recounts moments earlier than Obama chef Tafari Campbell’s paddleboard loss of life

The one that was paddleboarding with the Obamas’ private chef when he drowned near their Martha’s Vineyard estate had tried desperately to save lots of him, in accordance with officers.

The unidentified fellow paddleboarder tried to swim to Tafari Campbell, 45, however “didn’t attain him in time,” Massachusetts State Police mentioned in a press release, MassLive reported.

The particular person, who noticed Campbell shedding his stability and falling into the water, then swam to shore and alerted somebody who then known as 911, in accordance with the report.

A witness noticed Campbell — who was not sporting a life jacket and wasn’t tethered to the board — struggling to remain afloat in his closing moments, officers mentioned.

The probe into the tragedy has been accomplished and there was no proof to counsel that the loss of life was suspicious, police mentioned, including that an post-mortem additionally has been accomplished however {that a} toxicology report might take weeks.

Campbell was discovered Monday in eight ft of water about 100 ft from the banks of the Obamas’ property on Edgartown Nice Pond.

Authorities first responded to stories of a attainable drowning at Turkeyland Cove Highway on Sunday night.

The previous First Household was not residence on the time of the tragedy, officers mentioned.

“My coronary heart is damaged. My life and our household’s life is eternally modified,” Sherise Campbell wrote of her husband on Instagram on Tuesday.

Campbell — who additionally leaves behind two sons — was a sous chef on the White Home throughout Obama’s phrases in workplace, the place he was identified for brewing beer utilizing honey from Michelle Obama’s bees.

When the Obamas left DC, Campbell joined their private employees.

“Tafari was a beloved a part of our household,” they mentioned in a joint assertion Monday. “As we speak we be part of everybody who knew and cherished Tafari — particularly his spouse Sherise and their twin boys, Xavier and Savin — in grieving the lack of a very great man.”