The family of a Kitchener, Ont. man who drowned while on vacation in Mexico this week is still trying to come to grips with their loss.
Zoltan Zadori, a truck driver from Kitchener, Ont., was in the water with his wife, Cindy McPherson, when the couple was swept out to sea off the coast of Cancun.
“The waves were really strong and they kept going over our heads and pulling us out further,” McPherson told CTV Kitchener over the phone from Mexico.
Unable to swim back to safety, the couple signalled that they were in distress to two lifeguards on duty.
Both McPherson and Zadori were pulled to shore, but paramedics were unable to resuscitate Zadori. He was pronounced dead shortly after.
McPherson says she has been unable to eat or sleep since her husband's death. She has been alone since the tragedy, but told CTV on Friday that she was on her way home.
“He meant the world to me … and he's going to be missed,” she said.
The couple married in 2014. Zadori has two children from a previous marriage and worked as a truck driver in Guelph, Ont.
"I just keep thinking I'm never going to see him again," said his daughter, Adriana Zadori, who has a newborn of her own.
"My child's first birthday, he won't be there, Christmas, he won't be there," she told CTV Kitchener.
His son, Daniel, said his father was "everything" to him.
"I hear his voice telling me I love you, baby boy, stay strong, stay strong no matter what," he said.
The couple was staying at the Grand Oasis Sens resort in Cancun when the tragedy took place.
McPherson said she has faced difficulty making funeral arrangements -- which cost $3,000 -- and said her husband's wedding ring and other jewelry has disappeared since his death.
"Everybody just can't believe this has happened,” she said.
A funeral for Zadori is being arranged in Canada for some time next week.
With a report from CTV Kitchener's Leena Latafat.
