Basking Ridge Man Dies Holding Breath During Bachelor Party Game

BASKING RIDGE, NJ - A Basking Ridge man drowned in a Georgia lake during a bachelor party over the weekend while attempting to hold his breath underwater, according to Capt. Brad King of the Baldwin County Sheriff's Department.

Robert Zachary "Zach" Bunsa, 23, was apparently trying to see how long he could hold his breath underwater when the tragic incident occurred on Saturday, according to King.

Bunsa was pulled from Lake Sinclair in Rocky Creek at about 6:40 p.m. by bachelor party-goers when they began CPR until EMS arrived. A medivac was called to the area but Bunsa was pronounced dead shortly afterwards, King said.

"It appears he was attempting to see how long he could hold his breath and tragically drowned," King said.

Around 15 men were at the party and didn't realize he was still in the water.

Bunsa was missing for more than 7 minutes before the party goers realized, Cpl. Lynn Stanford told The Macon Telegraph.

That's when one of the men went into the lake to pull him out. The area he was in was between 5 and 10 feet deep near the dock. Visibility in the lake is about 1 foot, Stanford said according to nypost.com.

His friends went to social media to pay tribute to Bunsa, and they set up a GoFundMe page to help raise money for the family.

The GoFundMe page said Bunsa was "always laughing, always the life of the party. He had the ability to light up the room as soon as he walked in."

"When you spoke to him, he truly and genuinely cared what you were saying," the page said. "He had so much love to give: He was fiercely loyal, kind, and had the biggest servant's heart."

He was a waiter at Urban Table in Basking Ridge, according to his Facebook page.

“He was an awesome young man, we were blessed to have him," a former employer of his, Lauren Rubio, told NJ.com. “He always carried himself as a mature, strong person. We only have good things to say about him.”

Photo courtesy of GoFundMe, a promotional partner of Patch