SEATTLE — A 17-year-old male is dead after he tried swimming from a dock to a nearby beach Sunday night in Lake Washington.
Seattle Public Schools identified the teen as one of their students, Cuong Uong. He was a junior at Seattle World School.
QUICK FACTS:
- Uong had been under water for 45 minutes
- He was 30 feet from shore
- When firefighters found him Sunday night, 15 feet underwater, he'd been there for 45 minutes.
"It was just all of a sudden, I wasn't ready for that to happen. I didn't even get to say goodbye,” said Linh Ly, Uong’s girlfriend.
"He told me I'll meet you at the other side, but he never made it back. And his friends came running back to me and saying, you need to call 911 because he's in the water he's not getting up,” added Ly.
Friends were in the water with him. They say he got tired during the swim.
"We hear help! Help! Help!"
When Dejanae Johnson heard those cries for help, she looked away from her family barbeque at Mount Baker Beach and looked toward the water.
"And we see a hand up in the water and he's drifting away. And we don't see his hand no more,” said Johnson.
Johnson says the 17-year-old's friend tried to save him.
"A friend of his that was with him goes into the water. And you can see him panicking cause he don't know where his friend went,” said Johnson.
Another man who didn’t know Uong jumped in the water to help.
It took firefighters 45 minutes to finally find the teenager.
He was only about 30 feet from shore, but divers found the teenager 15 feet underwater.
Firefighters say the 17-year-old wasn’t wearing a life jacket, and that could have made the difference. They say the distance between the dock to the beach might not look like much until you try to swim it.
"He had seaweed tangled in his hair. And from where I was standing, you could look at his chest. No movement or breathing,” said Johnson.
"It's heartbreaking, even though you don't know who the person is, you can feel the pain."
She says she can't shake the image of what she saw when firefighters finally brought the man to shore.
On Sunday night, Harborview Medical Center confirmed the 17-year-old had died after being taken there following the rescue. Last year, nine people drowned in King County lakes.
Seattle public schools wrote the following in a letter to students and parents on Monday:
"It is with great sadness and a heavy heart that I share the tragic news that one of our students, Cuong Uong, drowned yesterday evening while swimming in Lake Washington. He was a junior.
"As a community, we are coming together to not only support our students’ family members, but each other in this difficult time. We have counselors at school today and will continue to have counselors and mental health support available this week for students, staff and families, as needed.
"When someone dies in a tragic accident such as this, it is normal for children and teens to have different kinds of feelings and reactions. Parents and guardians have important roles in helping students understand about death. We understand that each culture has its own way of dealing with death, and we encourage our students to talk with their families about their ideas, thoughts and beliefs. Additionally, talking about the incident can be a healthy way for families to process their feelings and reactions to an event of this nature."
KIRO
