Authorities identify man who drowned while trying to help 2 boys at Two Rivers State Recreation Area
Authorities have identified the 41-year-old man who drowned Saturday at Two Rivers State Recreation Area while coming to the aid of two boys in the Platte River.
By News Channel NebraskaAuthorities have identified the 41-year-old man who drowned Saturday at Two Rivers State Recreation Area while coming to the aid of two boys in the Platte River.
Joshua J. Williams, a Sarpy County resident, was pronounced dead at the scene, according to a report released Sunday by the Douglas County Sheriff’s Office. The two boys, whose names and ages were not released, were treated at the scene and taken to Children’s Hospital & Medical Center for observation.
It’s unclear whether the boys and Williams are related or knew one another.
Deputies were sent to the state park near Waterloo, Nebraska, at 12:10 p.m. for a report of a drowning, the report said. Upon arrival, deputies found one boy out of the water and another hanging onto some branches in the water.
Deputies found Williams in the water with a witness who was trying to perform CPR on him. Deputies and the witness pulled Williams out of the water and up the embankment, where they performed CPR and used a defibrillator to try to revive him.
Paramedics arrived and began treating Williams while someone flagged down an airboat. The people aboard the boat were able to rescue the boy still in the water.
The preliminary investigation found that the two boys “were attempting to walk out to a sandbar after they saw other people on the sandbar.” The boys apparently did not know that the people on the sandbar arrived there by airboat, the report said.
As the boys walked toward the sandbar, the water got deeper, and one boy was unable to swim well, deputies were told. Williams went out to help the youths and tried to pull them to the shore.
He was able to hold both boys up while bobbing under the water and the boys were able to reach some logs in the river. One boy stayed and the other made it to shore.
Williams drowned as he was trying to help the other boy to shore, the report said. An autopsy was ordered to determine the cause of death.
The Douglas County Sheriff’s Office warns that “extreme caution should be used in and around all bodies of water in Douglas County” as water levels still appear to be higher than normal as a result of spring flooding.