Describing it as a "nice, little river," Washington Parish Sheriff Robert Crowe, was quick to point out it could also be a dangerous river to those not familiar with its nuances.
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| Sheriff Robert Crowe advises tubers with limited swimming ability to tie themselves to their tubes for an extra protective measure. |
"It still has a little undertow effect to it and it is mostly the locals who know the river and where to swim and where not to swim," he said.
On Saturday, 21-year-old Kirk Craig, Jr. of New Orleans became the first drowning victim of the summer tubing season when he got in trouble while trying to save a youngster in trouble. Craig was reportedly part of a tubing party leaving out from Wayne's World, located 3.5 miles south of Enon on Hunt Road.
Divers from the Sheriff's Office recovered Craig's body Sunday morning.
Then, about 6 p.m. inside Bogue Chitto State Park, 31-year-old Reginald Burris of Franklinton drowned while swimming with one of his children. Witnesses said it appeared Burris got in trouble, went under the surface and never resurfaced.
Crowe said, "If they're tubing and they have any problems with swimming, I would recommend that they tie the tube to them; if they're canoeing I would wear some type of flotation device."
The drownings are the first of the season, although tragedy was narrowly averted on Memorial Day weekend when a woman and her two young children — an infant and a toddler — nearly drowned in a pool of deep water inside the state park.
On Memorial Day, Slidell resident Drew Badeaux heard a faint cry for help, then saw a young woman with her two children in trouble in the water.
Badeaux told Sheila Stroup of the Times-Picayune he heard the woman say, “Help. Save my babies. I’m drowning.”
“It was very faint, almost like a whisper,” he said.
Badeaux said he had taken Red Cross water safety and, because the water where he had been with his son was placid, he thought he would be able to help the woman to safety without much difficulty.
“I was going to do it by the book, and I told her, ‘Don’t worry. I’ve got you,’ but the current said, ‘That ain’t going to happen,’” Badeaux told Stroup. “In a pool, it’s just a whole different scenario.”
Before all was said and done, a friend of the woman's who had come into the water to try and help, was in trouble and Badeauix, who had gotten the one child to the beach, was tiring as he went back after the woman and her older child.
When all was said and done, Badeaux's brother-in-law, David Constance, had joined the rescue as had several strangers. Everyone was safe, but easily, three or more could have died.
Like Sheriff Crowe, Badeaux says there are some basic things a person needs to know if they are going to be around the water — how deep it is, whether there’s a current, and to make sure children are wearing floaties or life jackets or swim vests if they aren’t proficient swimmers.
