7-Year-Old Boy Drowns Near Park Trying To Help Friend, Family Says

A seven-year-old North Carolina boy died April 1 after he jumped into a waterfall pond to rescue a friend near a popular Hickory park, according to his family.

Multiple agencies rushed to Bruce Meisner Park around 6:52 p.m. after reports of a drowning, according to the Catawba County Sheriff’s Office (CCSO). First responders pulled the child from a body of water connected to the park and took him to Frye Regional Medical Center, where he was declared dead, police said.

The boy was named Abel Friday-Williams, WSOC-TV reported. Deputies alleged Abel had come to the area with a friend and an adult but may not have been supervised when he entered the water. Those allegations remain under investigation. (RELATED: Investigators Allegedly Find Human Remains Stuffed In Suitcases)

Family members told WSOC-TV that Abel went into the pond to pull his friend to safety. “It breaks my heart because he saved his friend and lost his,” Abel’s aunt, Brianna Sledge, told the outlet. “He went in behind his friends to save his life and lost his.”

The city of Hickory said the drowning took place outside park boundaries on property belonging to the city’s wastewater treatment pump station, WSOC-TV reported. City officials said the trail leading to the waterfall was not built by the city and the area was never meant for public access.

“There needs to be awareness that this is very dangerous. Just looking at the situation, it’s very, very, very dangerous,” Abel’s cousin, Lashun Ramseur, told WSOC-TV. “It’s heartbreaking.”

Local Tara Rink alleged that she was at the waterfall recently when a man leapt in to rescue a girl. “I assisted in pulling them out because there’s no way I could have gotten them out because the rocks are too slick,” she said. “It’s nothing but slime. It was terrifying.”

Hickory’s mayor called the incident a tragedy and said city leaders would evaluate whether safety improvements are necessary, WSOC-TV reported. The Sheriff’s Office Criminal Investigations Division continues to look into the circumstances.