Father drowns in front of children after trying to reach boat from shore – warning issued after third Lake Lanier death

A MAN has died after he attempted to swim to his boat from the shore of a lake that had already claimed the lives of two people this year.

Hasani Kamau Widemond’s young children and wife witnessed the tragic incident as it happened on Lake Lanier, around 50 miles northeast of Atlanta, Georgia .

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Widemond, 46, had visited the lake with his family over the weekend.

Emergency services were called to the area at around 2 pm on Saturday.

Police and fire crew were deployed to Bethel Park where they searched for the father.

Widemond, from Vinings, around 10 miles north of Atlanta , was later discovered 25 feet deep in the water.

His body was found and recovered using a boat-mounted sonar device and a remote-operated vessel.

The Forsyth County Fire Division Chief Jason Shivers put out a warning to others looking to visit the lake, according to CBS affiliate WANF .

“It was very tragic and sad,” Shivers said.

“Something I personally have been involved with way too many times in my career.”

The Fire Division Chief also shared safety advice and encouraged people to swim with a friend.

“Wear a life preserver, always swim with a buddy and don’t ever be in the water alone,” he said.

Widemond has become the third person to die in Lake Lanier this year.

A 76-year-old man was found 13 feet deep in the lake’s water on June 5th.

Jim Hansard had disappeared from his dock near Keith Bridge Park at the lake.

Just a week earlier, a 73-year-old man drowned in the deep waters.

Lake safety advice

• Do not dive into the water.
• Only swim during low water conditions.
• Swim with a friend or in a supervised area.
• Do not drink alcohol before swimming or using a boat on a lake.
• Use life jackets that meet the U.S. Coast Guard requirements when using a boat.
• Avoid using air-filled or foam toys like noodles or inner tubes.
• Check the local weather forecast before a lake visit.

Source: U.S. Department of Agriculture

Matthew Mayo fell into the lake after the seat on his bass boat suddenly became loose during a fishing trip with his wife.

The popular lake, visited by over 11 million people a year, has been described by some people as “haunted,” according to People .

This conspiracy theory started when two young girls, Delia May Parker Young and Susie Roberts, fell off a bridge while crossing the lake in 1958, according to the Oxford American .

The ghost story, known as the Lady of the Lake, then originated as locals claimed they had seen Parker Young haunting the body of water.

This conspiracy alleged that the girl still drags people to the bottom of Lake Lanier.

There have been 203 swimming or boat-related deaths on the lake between 1994 and October 2020.

LAKE DANGER

Large bodies of water, like lakes and seas, have always posed a risk for swimmers, The U.S. Sun has previously reported.

America’s most dangerous national park , Lake Mead, had announced 19 fatalities in the first half of the year.

The scenic lake, around 30 miles east of Las Vegas , Nevada, has been a popular spot for camping and boating for generations but it has had a deadly history.

Over 300 deaths have been reported at the lake since it was filled just under a century ago.