A 56-year-old French national who had made his second home on the Island has died from injuries sustained in an accident over the weekend.The employers of George Bossert, a chef at the Devil’s Hole eatery Foxy’s Cafe, described their struggle to retrieve his unconscious body from the water after he toppled backwards and struck shoreline rocks at around 5pm on Saturday.Proprietors Vernon and Peggy Fox, who worked with Mr Bossert for close to two years, described him as a lively character and a hard worker who struggled with alcohol, but was greatly liked in the community.His mother in France, understood to be 84 years old, has been notified by police, along with two brothers.A chef and butcher who worked at a variety of local restaurants, Mr Bossert had settled in Bermuda for the long haul, and was not believed to have visited home for several years. Mr Fox said he had resided on the Island for 28 years, adding: “We’ll miss him.”Mr Bossert, who lived at the Salvation Army Shelter in Pembroke, had appeared worse for wear when he reported for work on Saturday, Mr Fox said, and had been told he was not required for work.Instead of catching his bus back to Hamilton, however, Mr Bossert sat on a wall behind the waterside cafe.“I went over to the sink and saw him from the window sitting there,” Mr Fox said, adding that the cook appeared to be unsteady and was not a swimmer. “I shouted to him to get off the wall. There was no response.”Glancing out again, the restaurant owner saw Mr Bossert gone, and rushed to the wall, where he saw the apparently unconscious man face down in the shallows, and leaped to his assistance.“I jumped over. He was about three feet from the shore. I pulled him in and got his head out and turned him over.”Assisted by a motorist, Mr Fox drew the man from the water. An EMT from the fire service arrived, and the unresponsive man was taken ashore with the help of police and members of the public. He remained in critical condition at King Edward VII Memorial, and passed away yesterday.Said Mrs Fox: “Everybody liked him, and he was very good with work. He did everything for me.”A memorial will be held at the cafe, she added.Senator Diallo Rabain, the Progressive Labour Party candidate for the area, offered condolences to Mr Bossert’s family.“The Devil’s Hole Community is a close knit one and any loss like this, regardless of the circumstances, is felt by us all,” he said. “We are saddened to hear this unfortunate news and will continue to hold his family in prayer. George was a friendly and engaging gentleman who quietly went about his day doing what he needed to do. I am sure the staff at Foxy’s Café are devastated by these developments as he was a well-liked member of their staff.”