Father who drowned at Emma Long Park on Easter Sunday remembered

AUSTIN - Friends are sharing more about a man who drowned at Emma Long Metropolitan Park on Easter Sunday.

Remembering Angel Sarvarin

Angel Sarvarin, 30, was born in Venezuela. His family, including his four-year-old daughter, is in Peru. He had come to Austin to work and send money to his family. He worked at Flores Mexican restaurant. 

What Happened:

Sarvarin invited a group of friends to celebrate Easter at the park. Some of the friends got in the water. Sarvarin said he'd be okay swimming. Some of the friends were on a kayak. 

"One of our friends, all of a sudden, kept screaming, 'Angel is drowning, Angel is drowning.' I stood up. All of us that were on the chairs stood up. We at that point could see him going up and down and waving his hands. I immediately called 911. I know at one point my husband tried to go, but he said the water kept pulling him," Viviana Zarco, Sarvarin's friend, said.

Unfortunately, neither the people in the kayak nor the others were able to get to him.

"A lot of people tried to reach where he was at, but nobody made it. That's just very traumatic to see someone ask for help and just not being able to get there in time," Zarco said.

Crews didn't recover his body until three hours after he went under. 

As friends and loved ones remember who Sarvarin was as a person, they're also raising money for funeral expenses.

"He was a very happy person all the time, very outgoing. He always made you smile, no matter what your day was like," Zarco said.

Sarvarin has a brother in Austin. The rest of his family is in Peru. 

"His purpose was to help his family, and anybody knew that that was his purpose," Zarco said.  "We are asking for the GoFundMe donations to get him back home so he can be with his mom, wife, and daughter just because they are not able to come here to Austin."

You can contribute to his GoFundMe here.

Swimming Safety

Sarvarin's friends want people to be careful, even if you can swim.

"You never know," Zarco said. "There is parts of the lake that are very deep and with boats passing by, and it can cause like a whirlwind on the bottom of the lake."