Ex-WWE star Gaspard found dead after going missing while swimming with son

Photo by Ethan Miller/Getty Images

Tragically, ex-WWE wrestler Shad Gaspard’s body was discovered three days after trying to save his son from drowning. Tragedy has struck the pro wrestling world. Ex-WWE superstar Shad Gaspard’s body was …

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Tragically, ex-WWE wrestler Shad Gaspard’s body was discovered three days after trying to save his son from drowning.

Tragedy has struck the pro wrestling world. Ex-WWE superstar Shad Gaspard’s body was discovered about three days after being swept out to sea while swimming with his son in Venice Beach, California.

He was 39 years old, and leaves behind a wife and his only son.

Gaspard had been about 50 yards from shore swimming with his boy, and a lifeguard noticed the after a “wave had crashed over Mr. Shad Gaspard and he was swept out to sea,” the Los Angeles Police Department said in a statement. NBC News has more details:

Chief Ken Haskett, with the fire department’s Lifeguard Section, told NBC News that the lifeguard tried to pull Gaspard and his son to safety. “He was going to try to rescue both,” he said. “But the father, in his last few words, said, ‘Save my son.’ “ Gaspard pushed his son to the lifeguard, before “he got pushed back down under a wave, and that’s the last he’s been seen,” Haskett said.”

His body was discovered Wednesday morning around 1:25am, not far from where the location he had been swimming.

Gaspard was noted in WWE for his role in a tag team called Cryme Time. He left the promotion for good in 2010 and had worked as an actor since, in such movies as “Get Hard”.

Many current and former stars spoke out regarding Gaspard’s sudden passing, including Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson and Paul “Triple H” Levesque. WWE also issued their own statement:

Our condolences go out to Gaspard’s family and friends over their tragic loss.