Vacationing Massachusetts man, George Baletsa, drowns off of Florida beach
Authorities have identified a 46-year-old man who drowned off the coast of Florida as a Massachusetts man on vacation.
George Balesa and Linda Frazier
George Baletsa was reportedly vacationing with his family, playing with his kids at Indian Rocks Beach when he decided to go for a swim. Just before 7 p.m. Tuesday a fisherman spotted the man in the water, unresponsive and pulled him out, police say.
Baletsa was rushed to nearby the nearby Largo Medical Center where he was pronounced dead shortly after 8 p.m. An autopsy will be conducted says sources at the Pinellas County Sheriff’s office.
Sources from the office say Baletsa’s death will remain under investigation for the time being.
IR Magazine included George’s story and long distance releationship with Linda Frazier in some coverage profiling their great story, marriage in Miami and credits IR’s role in them finding one another after years apart.
“Obviously, they were meant to be together,” Felise Glantz Kissell, HSN’s vice president of IR stated in the 2011 article.
Most drownings in Florida are children as the Sunshine State loses more children under age five to drowning than any other state. According to new data by FloridaCharts.com, drownings are increasing in Pinellas the surrounding areas with the counts from 2009 to present being shockingly high.
FloridaHealth.Gov writes that: “Florida overwhelmingly has the highest unintentional drowning rate in the nation for the 1–4 year old age group in 2010 with a drowning rate of 7.29 per 100,000 population. Florida also had the highest drowning number and rate in the nation for the 1–14 population in 2010 with a drowning rate of 2.67 per 100,000 population. Oklahoma was second for this age group with a rate of 2.48 per 100,000 population, and Arizona third for this age group with a rate of 2.05 per 100,000 population for 2010. (Current national injury data)”
For additional injury prevention data, please see the Florida Injury Surveillance Data System page.
Beach drownings are much less than in domestic pools, but rip currents and tide changes can be attributed to several drowning during this time, especially for swimmers unaccustomed to swimming in the ocean.
