COEUR D’ALENE, Idaho – A woman said she and several others desperately tried to save the life of a man on Lake Coeur d’Alene Monday.
The man was working on a floating home when he went underwater and began to drown. Boaters passing by picked him up and started to perform CPR. The man later died, but not before several strangers tried to help.
Jessica said she wants the victim's family to know that in his final moments he was not alone and that people tried to help.
"I didn't think at all. It was just: somebody needs help and you know you need to go," she said.
It was Monday afternoon when investigators said a man working on a floating home on the East end of Lake Coeur d'Alene went into the water. He began to drown.
"A boat came up quickly screaming for help," she said.
The boat belonged to some bystanders who were flagged down by the man's co-worker on shore. Jessica was out on the water with her family at the time. The same boat, with the unconscious man on board, approached them.
"They were screaming from the boat, 'Help, does anybody know CPR? Hurry, we need help,'" she explained.
Jessica jumped in and swam over. Around then, another fellow boater also swam over to help. On the boat, Jessica and that person got to work doing CPR. It turned out both of them work in the nursing field.
"We don't know if he was underwater for two minutes or 20 minutes, but that didn't matter to us. We still tried,” she said.
As they did that, the boater made their way to Higgins Point where authorities were waiting. Medics continued CPR, but it was already too late. The man was pronounced dead at the scene, but not before close to half a dozen strangers did what they could to save him.
"I would love it if his family and his friends knew there were strangers that day that tried really hard to help him. If there was anything that came out of it, it was that. There's always people willing to help," she said.
The victim has been identified as a 35-year-old Spokane man. The Kootenai County Sheriff's Office is investigating what happened but investigators said all signs point to this being a tragic accident.