OAKLAND, Tenn. — Authorities confirmed a teenager drowned over the weekend in Fayette County.
The Oakland Fire Department told WREG that the 14-year-old boy was in the area of U.S. Highway 194 and Cypress Creek on Sunday when he went below the water.
First responders made the scene in under three minutes and quickly pulled the child out, but he did not survive.
“He’ll never get a chance to graduate, have a family or anything,” Carolyn Terry, the aunt of the victim, said.
Terry came to Cypress Creek off Highway 194 Monday afternoon to see the spot where she says her nephew, Jacob, spent the last few minutes of his life.
Jacob was with another young man Sunday evening, when Jacob’s friend was forced to call 911.
“Apparently they were swimming and he turned around and he was gone,” Stephen Walls, Oakland Fire Chief said.
Walls says rescue teams responded within two minutes and found the teen in the water.
“The minute they got him out they started resuscitation,” Walls said.
First responders took Jacob to the hospital, but ultimately he didn’t make it.
WREG-TV reached out to Fayette County Public Schools, and they sent us the following statement:
Terry described her nephew as a good, ambitious young man. Now the family wonders what happened.
They’re led to believe the weekend’s severe weather might’ve played a factor.
“Maybe you know he just got caught up in some debris or something because you know it was a very heavy storm and you know stuff flows and you know maybe he just got tangled up in it and couldn’t get out,” Terry said.
Chief Walls says the creek isn’t a popular swimming spot. But he says, police will frequently monitor the different bodies of water throughout Oakland.
“They keep a tab on our youth out here. They do a great job but you can’t watch everything 24 hours,” Walls
As the spring and summer months continue to unfold, he encourages everyone to stay vigilant around the water.
