A family in Florida is mourning the loss of Nate Kuhlman after he tragically passed away in an accident on his Caribbean honeymoon with wife Mariana Kuhlman, just days after their wedding. The pair tied the knot on October 28th and flew to St. Lucia to celebrate their marriage, not knowing that tragedy would strike soon after. Nate passed away from a freak waterskiing accident just three days after marrying Mariana. His mother, Heather Kuhlman, posted a heartbreaking tribute to her son on her Facebook page. “We never really know when our time will come. Nate’s death took all of us by surprise and just took our breath away. By God’s grace, we are OK. It’s so hard and painful, but we are walking each day one moment at a time. We know you are hurting too, and our hearts go out to all of you.” She added saying, “My son is in the arms of Jesus.” Not many details have been released about Nate’s death, but his mother added that their family flew to St. Lucia to pray over his body before an autopsy was conducted.

Nate and Mariana both studied at the Franciscan University of Steubenville in Ohio before they moved to Nate’s home state of Florida. Family and friends have set up GoFundMe pages to help the family financially, raising over $100,000. “He was able to thoughtfully encounter every person he met and those who had the blessing of a relationship with him would be able to tell a list of stories detailing what a fun, kind, and adventurous soul he was,” said one of the pages. “Words cannot describe the heartbreak there is for his story and for his family. We kindly ask for help to assist for funeral cost and travel of the family.”

Nate’s mother updated her Facebook page sharing that she and their family will be returning back to the U.S. with her son’s body. “Please keep us in your prayers as we bring Nate home,” she posted. “Once further arrangements have been made, we will let you know so that we can pray together.”