[TNham] Youth drowns in Park

[Greg Williams]

Youth drowns in Park
2004-05-01
by Anna C. Irwin
of The Daily Times Staff

The body of a Knoxville seventh-grader who drowned near Abrams Falls =
while on a school field trip was recovered by a Blount County Volunteer =
Rescue Squad diver, carried by Great Smoky Mountains National Park =
rangers to the Abrams Falls trail head and taken to University of =
Tennessee Medical Center.

The youth was identified as Christopher Drinkard, a student at Vine =
Middle School. He was 12 years old.

Drinkard was one of 41 students and four adults on the field trip to =
Abrams Falls located 2.5 miles from the Abrams Creek parking area in =
Cades Cove.

The circumstances that caused the boy to wind up in the pool at the base =
of the falls were still being investigated, according to a Park =
spokesman. At least two of the adults, one of them a teacher, saw the =
boy struggling in the water and go under. They tried to get the boy out, =
but he was caught in the current and carried out of reach.

The incident happened about 1 p.m. Friday, and Park rangers were =
notified with a call from a ham radio operator in Knoxville. Cell phones =
usually do not function in the Park where there is limited access to =
cell towers. However, one of the students in the group had taken along =
his ham radio, made contact with the ham operator in Knoxville and asked =
him to notify rangers by telephone.

Rangers were on the Abrams Falls Trail by 1:30 p.m., and emergency =
responders from Blount County were on their way to the Park. Blount =
County Sheriff's deputies, about a dozen members of BSORT (Blount =
Special Operations Response Team), and seven members of the Blount =
County Volunteer Rescue Squad gathered at the trail head and hiked to =
the scene of the drowning.

BSORT and Rescue Squad divers went into the cold water at the base of =
the falls, a wide and very deep pool full of jagged rocks. Warning signs =
are posted discouraging swimming in the pool and climbing at the =
waterfall.

Due to the heavy volume of water coming over the falls and crashing into =
the pool, divers said conditions were ``difficult and dangerous.'' =
Divers also checked Abrams Creek downstream from the falls where the =
body might have been carried by the current.

At 5:45 p.m., about five hours after the incident was reported, Blount =
County Rescue Squad diver Nathan Smith located the body. The boy was =
found about 10 feet downstream from where he was last seen and 35 feet =
beneath the surface of the water.

While the search for the youth was under way, other students on the =
field trip were led back down the trail to their school bus and driven =
to the Cades Cove Ranger Station. There they underwent counseling =
conducted by a ranger with specialized training in grief counseling. The =
bus finally took the students back to their school and their waiting =
parents.

The victim's parents and the families of other students on the field =
trip were contacted by Knox County Schools personnel and provided with =
detailed information about the situation and the well-being of the other =
students.

A Park spokesman said this was the second fatal accident in the Park =
this year. He said drownings have been the second leading cause of =
accidental death in the Park over the last 10 years.

____________________________________________
____________________________________________
Gregory S. Williams=20
Webmaster=20
This Week in Amateur Radio
k4hsm@twiar.org
http://www.twiar.org
____________________________________________
____________________________________________

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