Elizabethtown High Grad
Drowns in Costa Rica
Elizabethtown
Area High School
graduate and an April
graduate of Eastern
Mennonite University
drowned in Costa Rica on
Tuesday while on a
mission trip.
Matt Garber, 22, was
swimming with a group of
young people in a cove
that was not known to be
dangerous. A riptide
apparently caught
several swimmers. All
but Garber returned
safely to shore,
according to Eastern
Mennonite's Web site.
Deb Garber said her son
went to Costa Rica last
summer through an EMU
cross-cultural program.
While there, he met a
missionary family whom
he contacted again to
assist them in their
work this summer.
"He worked on their farm
and helped with their
ministry to reach out to
local Costa Ricans," she
said.
On Tuesday, he went with
the family to spend a
day at the beach, she
said. The family had
gone out to the water
earlier and had come
back fine, but on their
second trip, the water
rose quickly.
"That's when the riptide
took them out. It was a
very, very strong
riptide," she said.
One of the boys that was
out with Garber almost
drowned, but was
ultimately rescued, she
said. Her son was not a
strong swimmer, and he
was not one to take
risks, she said.
"He was very careful. He
would not have gone out
where there was even the
possibility of it
happening," she said.
What comforts her is
that "Matthew loved what
he was doing. He loved
Costa Rica. He was
somewhere he loved and
was having a good time
this summer" Deb Garber
said. |
