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Darwin Awards
2009 Slush Pile

This item was recently submitted by a reader.
Should I include it in the archive?
Vote to tell me what *you* think!

Swimming St. Mary's Glacier

2009 Reader Submission
Pending Acceptance

AURORA - Three young men say they didn't know the water was dangerously cold. They want to make sure others don't make the same mistake.

They say it's been hard to sleep. The group of friends from Aurora says they can't stop thinking about what happened. They can't stop thinking about their friend, Sean Anderson. He drowned on Saturday and they saw it all happen.

"It feels like a dream until it hits you. Then it's just such a heavy burden on your mind," Leo Herrera, 19, said.

"I can hear it, I can remember everything and I can do nothing about it," Jamal Kerdendoll, who is also 19, said.

As difficult as it is to talk about, these young men say they want to share their story so that other people will be warned.

"I don't recommend anyone trying to do that ever again. If we had known how dangerous it is we would have never tried it," Jesus Gregory, 19, said

The friends were excited about the hike to the lake at St. Mary's Glacier. It's a very popular place near Idaho Springs.

They were part of a group of about 10 friends and family. Four of the guys decided to swim across the lake.

Herrera tested the water out first.

"It felt a little cold but didn't seem like it would be a problem," he said.

But the water he was in was in a shallow part of the lake, so it was warmer. When the group got to the middle of the lake, the water became very deep and suddenly was much colder.

"Once we're at the middle of the lake everything went down hill from there. It got bad really fast," Gregory said.

"It just felt like someone was crushing your lungs - taking your air from you and then you can't move your arms and legs," Kerdendoll remembered.

"It does just take your breath away. It makes you feel like you are tired and you feel like you can't really move," Gregory said.

Herrera was able to keep swimming.

"I told everyone on shore to call 911 because I heard panic and screaming and I got to the shore and I looked back and I saw Sean go under. Then Jamal started going under and he was closer than Sean was and at that point it isn't a decision any more, it is more of a reaction," he said.

"I really thought that was it. I remember not moving and I just started sinking. I was under the water when I felt someone pull me. Leo got me and pulled me to shore," Kerdendoll said.

He had severe hypothermia and was in shock. Kerdendoll had to be taken by helicopter to St. Anthony Central Hospital.

They never saw Anderson again. Dive teams found his body in a very deep part of the center of the lake on Sunday.

Clear Creek County Sheriff Don Krueger says the temperature of the lake water is around 35 degrees. He says some shallow parts are in the 40s, but it can be close to freezing in the deeper sections.

"If you aren't a good swimmer or if something happens, or if you are in the water too long, your survival chances are just about non existent," he said.

Anderson's mother, Kim, says that it's something that everyone who goes to that lake needs to be warned about.

"There needs to be a sign posted. The water is so cold that it can be deadly. That is why Sean is not with us today. It was the cold water, he was a great swimmer, and it wasn't that he couldn't swim. The water temperature in the glacier is just too cold," she said.

Anderson was the second of four boys in his family.

"He was a great brother. He was always helping out and thinking about other people. He was a great young man, a good student and a hard worker. We are going to miss him terribly," Kim Anderson said.

Submitted on 08/13/2009

Submitted by: Anonymous
Reference: August 11, 2009 http://www.9news.com/news/local/article.aspx?storyid=121152&catid=222

Copyright © 2009 DarwinAwards.com

>> Moderator Scores <<

Bruce said:
Definitely Toss: Too Common
Thanks, but we get lots of stories of people who drown when they decide to go swimming in unsafe places. It's amazing how many people see what appears to be a serene lake or pond and decide to go for a swim without knowing their own limitations.


Candi said:
Definitely Toss: Too Common
What Bruce said.


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