A Washington couple who drowned while celebrating their babymoon in Hawaii threw a party before their trip to reveal the gender of their baby girl.
Ilya “Billy” and Sophia Tsaruk of Snohomish drowned Saturday while snorkeling in unguarded waters off the coast of the Ahihi-Kinau Natural Area Reserve on Maui, along with her brother and his wife, Tony and Tiasiya.
Sophia, 26, was 30 weeks pregnant with their daughter and the couple had an 18-month-old toddler together, named Logan, who is currently staying with family.
Before their trip to the Hawaiian island, they held a gender reveal party, with the expectant parents of two appearing overjoyed to learn they were having a girl, according to a video shared with Fox 13 Seattle shows.
The couple, both dressed in black, gathered excitedly near a tree as they prepared to hear the news.
“Ready?” Sophia asked her husband of four years. “Ready…done!”
They simultaneously sprayed pink smoke into the air, while Sophia let out a lively squeal of surprise and satisfaction as the two embraced.
Ilya “Billy” and Sophia Tsaruk of Snohomish, Washington drowned Saturday while snorkeling in unguarded waters off the coast of the Ahihi-Kinau Natural Area Reserve on Maui with her brother and his wife
Just before their trip to the Hawaiian island, they held a gender reveal party, with the expectant parents of two looking overjoyed after learning they were having a girl.
“Oh my god!” Sophia said in disbelief before her husband picked her up, spun her around and kissed her.
“How excited are you?” asked Ilya, 25.
“We’re having a girl! Oh my god, I can’t believe it,” Sophia said, cupping her hand over her mouth.
The couple wanted to name their daughter Melody, Tiasiya revealed.
“They were getting the room, the nursery, ready for her,” she said KITTV“They were so excited about life and what it would bring for them.”
“She was going to have a girl,” she told Fox 13 Seattle.
Ilya and Sophia had just bought a new home and traveled to the Hawaiian island to celebrate Sophia’s pregnancy, along with her brother, his wife and another couple.
Sophia, who was not a good swimmer, said she felt a little sick that fateful day.
The group split up to explore the seabed, until another swimmer approached Tiasiya and told her he had heard screams in the water.
Maui Fire Department was called to the area after receiving reports that the couple was in “distress,” the Honolulu Star Advertiser.
When rescuers arrived on the scene, they found Sophia unconscious and pulled her from the water, approximately 100 to 150 meters from shore.
Ilja was later found at the bottom of the ocean and brought to shore.
Both victims were resuscitated, but rescuers were unable to treat their injuries. They were pronounced dead.
Taisiya believes the snorkel masks the couple were wearing played a role in their deaths.
“When we were in the water, I started having shortness of breath, like I couldn’t breathe,” she told KITV. “I felt like the mask was suffocating me and I had to pull my mask off to breathe.
“They both drowned, but she had her mask on, which I don’t know,” she continued. “I do believe that played a role. Because, like I said, I was having trouble breathing in the mask, and we were wearing the same masks.”
Sophia, 26, was 30 weeks pregnant with their daughter and the couple had an 18-month-old toddler named Logan, who is currently staying with family.
Logan is left with nothing but photos of his young parents
Social media in Hawaii is abuzz with reactions from shocked residents, warning of the dangers snorkel masks can pose to inexperienced users if the exhaled air is not properly vented.
However, Tony does not believe the mask claimed his sister’s life.
“It could have just played a role in scaring her and panicking her. Everything is just speculation at this point,” he said.
According to the fire department, the waves were relatively calm that day and the area is not known for its currents.
According to the Honolulu Star-Advertiser, the area where the couple was swimming is unguarded. The nearest lifeguard station is at Makena State Beach Park.
The investigation into the tragedy is still ongoing.
DailyMail.com has contacted the Maui Fire Department for comment.
The group snorkeled in the unguarded waters at the Ahihi-Kinua Nature Reserve (pictured) in west Maui
Rescuers desperately tried to resuscitate the young parents after they were pulled from the water
As a tribute to the couple on a GoFundMe A page written by the fundraiser’s organizer, Andrey Tupikov, said that the couple were active in the Sulamita Slavic Church and that “Sophia had the voice of an angel and they sang together with Ilya in a worship group in their church.”
“The Kovalevich and Tsaruk families are in mourning today and this pain will not go away soon, but we continue to pray and lean on the Lord,” Tupikov wrote.
“We are blessed to have had them both in our lives and cherish the wonderful memories and moments we shared with them.”
The money will go toward funeral expenses, as well as returning the couple’s bodies to Washington, Tupikov said. Any remaining money will go toward Logan’s future.
A young boy only has photos of his young parents, but the rest of his family keeps him company.
“He is never alone for a moment,” said Sophia’s older sister, Ilona Tsymbalyuk.
“Everyone wants to hold him all the time, because they still have a little bit of him and her left in him.”
Ilya’s brother Tony and his wife Taisiya had joined the couple for the trip to Maui
“Her birthday is the day after Christmas,” the sister added. “She always talked about how on her birthday she was going to give birth to this baby girl she dreamed of.”
A memorial service will be held for the couple next Thursday, with the funeral to follow the day after.
