UPDATE: 18-year-old who drowned after pulling kids to safety in northern Minnesota lake identified, family starts GoFundMe
Raina Neeland[GoFundMe]
UPDATE: The 18-year-old who died in this incident has been identified as Raina Lynn Neeland of Bagley. Neeland’s family has created a GoFundMe to help with costs associated with her funeral and family needs.
An 18-year-old died of a suspected drowning Monday after authorities say she pulled several children to safety in a northern Minnesota lake.
According to the Clearwater County Sheriff’s Office, deputies responded to a reported drowning near Clearwater Dam on Clearwater Lake at about 3:45 p.m.
Witnesses told authorities a group of children had been swimming in the river near the dam when some became caught up in the turbulent water coming over the dam.
The first deputy to arrive at the scene found an 8-year-old girl had been pulled from the water and was initially unresponsive. However, bystanders performed lifesaving measures and were able to resuscitate her.
An 18-year-old woman was still near the river and bystanders were performing CPR on her but she was still unresponsive. The sheriff’s office said witnesses estimated she had been in the water for about 10 minutes.
Lifesaving measures were performed but medics were not able to resuscitate the 18-year-old, who witnesses said had pulled some of the younger children to safety before she went under the water.
The victim’s name is expected to be released at a later time.