Nation She was dead for 18 minutes after drowning in a rip current. Then she started breathing July 8, 2019 Michael Braun, Fort Myers News-Press Comments Off on She was dead for 18 minutes after drowning in a rip current. Then she started breathing Tia Gambrel-Irizarry, a trained diver and former lifeguard, drowned in a powerful rip current off Turner Beach on the edge of Captiva. She survived.