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Yoga instructor leads a class during a paddleboard yoga session at Adventure Sports Miami on July 10, 2011 in Miami, Florida.
- A New York woman drowned after trying to assist a fellow member of her standup paddleboard yoga class, reports on Friday said.
- The woman, Lisa Margaritis, 49, was described by police as an experienced paddleboarder.
- Margaritis' board got caught on a bridge piling and she was thrown into the strong currents, police said, but she was unable to free herself.
A New York woman drowned after trying to assist a fellow member of her standup paddleboard yoga class, reports on Friday said.
The woman, Lisa Margaritis, 49, who was described by police as an experienced paddleboarder, tried helping a classmate that she saw was having difficulty navigating the strong currents of the Hashamomuck Pond in Long Island, New York.
Margaritis' board got caught on a bridge piling and she was thrown into the currents, police said. Because she was tethered to her board, police said Margaritis was unable to free herself.
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A jogger, who witnessed what was happening, jumped into the water, freed Margaritis, and brought her back to shore. The local Southold first responders performed CPR before taking her to a Long Island hospital, where she was pronounced dead at 9:52 AM, police said.
Margaritis was a registered nurse and a Judo gold medalist.
"She was a hero in my eyes," Margaritis' mother, Jean Weber, told Newsday. "She wanted to save somebody else. She was always kind."