CANYON LAKE, Texas — A teenager from Schertz passed away at a Comal County hospital after he drowned in the waters of Canyon Lake on Memorial Day Monday.
According to a statement from the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department, 18-year-old Alek Johnson reportedly had been underwater for 20 minutes when he was recovered by the Canyon Lake Fire & EMS dive team under eight feet of water.
Crews performed CPR and Johnson was transported to a nearby hospital where he later died. This is the third drowning death at Canyon Lake this year.
Javier Fuentes, Texas Parks and Wildlife captain game warden says recovering Johnson’s body was swift.
“We had boats and people and his friends who all saw when he went under,” he said,
Fuentes believes depth perception of how far people are swimming to the islands turns out to be farther than they think.
“See what’s happening at Canyon Lake right now is that we’ve had three drownings so far this summer," Fuentes said. "Every single one has come from the bank. So the water is so low that it’s exposing some of these islands that are normally underwater.”
Also over the Memorial Day weekend, a 20-year-old woman in Galveston drowned while at the beach with her family. A new study from the CDC found that drowning deaths are on the rise across the U.S. and with summer just around the corner, safety concerns are growing.
May 18, crews recovered the body of a man from New York who drowned at Comal Park, on the southside of the lake. They recovered his body the same day.
In April, crews searched for 19-year-old Roiner Pereira and recovered his body after a week of searching. Fuentes encourages taking preventative measures ahead of a tragedy.
Texas Parks and Wildlife said Memorial Day is the first of three “major boating holidays,” with the Fourth of July and Labor Day being the other two.
Texas Game Wardens reportedly increased boat patrols at various bodies of water across the state in preparation for the holiday weekend.
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