A LaGrange woman has died days after she attempted to save her 13-year-old granddaughter from drowning in Troup County’s West Point Lake, authorities said.
Stephanie Walker, 49, died Friday at Wellstar West Georgia Medical Center, where she had been in critical condition after being pulled from the lake June 11. The body of her granddaughter, Makayla Prather, was recovered the same day after a five-hour search.
Walker is believed to have entered the water after Prather became distressed in the lake, according to the Troup County Sheriff’s Office. There were no eyewitnesses, a sheriff’s spokesperson said, as the man who called for help did not see them go into the lake.
He had been with the two moments before and returned in time to see Walker in the water. Prather did not resurface.
According to the sheriff’s office, Walker was not breathing when deputies and fire rescue crews arrived at the lake shortly before 2 p.m. They immediately began CPR.
Prather’s body was found by dive teams at about 7:30 p.m., the sheriff’s office said.
The two were fishing prior to the incident, according to a GoFundMe Prather’s mother created following her death. An additional GoFundMe was created to cover funeral costs after Walker died. Collectively, the campaigns have raised over $7,300.
“Unfortunately my mom has passed away this morning while fighting on life support and she is at peace,” Rodrikeus Prather, Walker’s son, wrote on the GoFundMe page. “We ask that you keep us in prayer as we go through this tragic moment.”
In the U.S., there are an estimated 3,960 fatal unintentional drownings and 8,080 nonfatal drownings per year, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reports.
A 2012 study on drownings of attempted rescuers published in the Journal of Safety Research found that only about 27% of rescuers were successful in saving a potential drowning victim.
“‘Rescuers’ who died from drowning in this study weren’t trained to perform in water rescues,” the study states. “People can be prepared to attempt such a high risk activity in the water only with prior knowledge in water rescue training.”
The study advises that a rescue should be attempted first from land or a boat and only to enter the water if necessary and with the aid of equipment such as rope, sticks or anything that floats.
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