Naya Rivera's ex opens up about son's harrowing memories of mum drowning after he recalls trying to save her

It's been five years since Glee actress Naya Rivera sadly drowned while swimming in Lake Piru, California with her four-year-old son.

And this week, the TV star's ex-husband Ryan Dorsey has revealed that their little boy Josey, now nine - who witnessed his mother sinking beneath the water after sacrificing her life for his - is still haunted by vivid memories of that fateful day.

Rivera, who was famed for playing fiery cheerleader Santana Lopez on the hit musical series, was just 33 when she decided to treat her son Josey to a day out on the water in July 2020.

Tragically, however, the actress was ruled missing days later, after Josey was discovered asleep in a lifejacket on the vessel - which hadn't come equipped with an anchor or floatation device - with his mother nowhere to be seen.

After five days, California authorities discovered Rivera's body in a remote part of the lake, ruling that she'd drowned while swimming after sacrificing her own life to save her son.

The on-screen star's ex-husband Ryan Dorsey - with whom she shared Josey - maintained his silence on her passing in the years that followed, having requested privacy for the sake of the son they shared together.

The actress was just 33 when she died (Instagram/@dorseyryan)

This week, however, during an interview with PEOPLE magazine, the 41-year-old lifted the lid on how witnessing his mother's death had impacted a now nine-year-old Josey, who has been left with guilt for not being able to help her.

"Something he’s said over and over is that he was trying to find a life raft, and there was a rope, but there was a big spider on the rope, and he was too scared to throw it," Dorsey told the publication of his son.

"I keep reassuring him, 'Buddy, that rope wasn’t going to be long enough.'"

He added: "That obviously still sticks out in his head because he feels like he could have saved her. I think she just got caught up in a brush — that or a weird undercurrent from the dam.

"It was just a freak occurrence."

Dorsey went on to reveal that their son - who is now nine years old - still has vivid memories of watching his mother drown.

"He said that the last thing she said was his name, and then she went under, and he didn’t see her anymore," he revealed.

Dorsey says his son still remembers his mother drowning (Instagram/@dorseyryan)

"It just rocks my world that he had to witness her last moments."

Dorsey added that, while he wasn't there when Rivera drowned, he believes he 'probably would have jumped in' and 'saved the day'.

"But on the other hand, I think maybe something bad could have happened to both of us," he said. "I don’t know."