London international student mourned after drowning in swimming pool

Half-way through his Fanshawe College diploma and starting a new part-time job after months of rejections, an international student’s new life in London ended tragically when he drowned in a swimming pool on Sunday.

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20-year-old Nomit Goswami had been hanging out with friends at an Airbnb rental in Dresden, a small town in rural Chatham-Kent, the day he died, a family friend said.

Windsor resident Parag Sethi has known Goswami ever since he was a baby in India. A long-time friend of Goswami’s family, Sethi says he was heartbroken to hear about his death.

“He’s a very good kid,” Sethi said, describing Goswami as an exceptionally bright and passionate young man.

Goswami came to Canada in January with a goal to pursue a career in hospitality. He was in the middle of a hospitality and tourism diploma at Fanshawe College.

Goswami’s friendly nature was a good fit for his chosen career, Sethi said. “He was very good (at) talking. He was friendly and always trying to help people.”

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Goswami hoped Canada represented a better future, Sethi said, noting the young man’s family had taken out loans and sold property to raise funds for his education.

Sethi last talked to Goswami on the phone about two weeks ago, after an excited Goswami had just landed a part-time job.

“I was so happy for him. . . he was interviewing but not getting hired because of the recession. Finally, after six to seven months he got (a job),” Sethi said. “But now, this.”

Sethi says he received a call from Goswami’s father at about 11:30 pm on Sunday, telling him the family had been notified by a doctor about his son’s death.

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“Just to clarify, I called the doctor’s number. . . the doctor told me some friends were swimming and then (Goswami) got into deeper water and he drowned.”

Sethi described Goswami as an “average swimmer.”

A Gofundme campaign organized by Sethi had as of Thursday raised more than $25,000 to help cover the costs of transporting Goswami’s body back to India, where his parents and younger brother live in the city of Karnal.

Chatham-Kent police previously said emergency crews responded to reports of an unresponsive man in a swimming pool on Cross Street in Dresden at about 6 pm on Aug. 11. A 20-year-old London man died later in hospital, police said.

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