Ryan Dorsey revealed details from the day his ex Naya Rivera drowned — and explained why their son, Josey, still feels guilty — in a new interview.
The actor told People Wednesday that the 9-year-old has “said over and over … that he was trying to find a life raft” for his mom prior to her death.
“There was a rope, but there was a big spider on the rope, and he was too scared to throw it,” Dorsey shared. “I keep reassuring him, ‘Buddy, that rope wasn’t going to be long enough.’ That obviously still sticks out in his head.”
While Josey “feels like he could have saved” his mom, the “Ray Donovan” alum, 41, acknowledged that the July 2020 incident “was just a freak occurrence.”
The “Glee” alum died at age 33 during a swim with Josey in Lake Piru in Ventura County, Calif.
Her death was ruled an accident, with an investigation finding that she had gotten her son safely back on their rented boat before exhausting herself and drowning.
Dorsey shared what Josey remembers from his mom’s “last moments” in Wednesday’s interview.
“The last thing she said was his name, and then she went under, and he didn’t see her anymore,” the “Justified” alum said.
Dorsey also feels guilt, admitting he thinks about how the tragedy might have gone differently if he were onboard the boat.
“I probably would have jumped in, and I like to think I would’ve saved the day,” he said. “But on the other hand, I think maybe something bad could have happened to both of us. I don’t know.”
The TV stars, who were married from 2014 to 2018, welcomed their baby boy in 2015.
Dorsey said the on-again, off-again couple were “very good parents” who “always put Josey first and had “a good schedule” while sharing joint custody post-divorce.
“If one of us couldn’t do it, we always would fill in,” he explained. “We never had any real turmoil about raising him together.”
When Dorsey found out that Rivera was missing and Josey had been found asleep on their boat, he “collapsed into a pallet of drinks … [and] feared the worst.”
He noted, “I drove 100-and-something the whole way with my four-way hazards on, chain-smoking cigarettes — and I don’t even smoke, really — and just crying. I just wanted to get to Josey.”
Now a single parent, Dorsey is trying make Rivera “proud” as the “best [dad] he can be” raising “a good little man.”
In November 2020, Dorsey filed a wrongful death lawsuit on Josey’s behalf, which was settled in March 2022.
“Josey will receive just compensation for having to endure the drowning of his beloved mother at Lake Piru,” attorney Amjad M. Khan said at the time. “We are very pleased that the monetary settlement will significantly assist Josey with his life beyond this tragedy.”
Dorsey has given his social media followers regular updates on Josey’s life over the years, from birthday party photos to back-to-school snaps.
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