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Anchorage Daily News
Metro
June, 22, 1998
Wasilla teenager drowns
Body recovered from Finger Lake
by Rachel D'Oro
Daily News Reporter
Rescuers recovered the body of a 17-year-old Wasilla boy who drowned in Finger Lake early Sunday when his canoe overturned.
Alaska State Troopers said Brandon McManamy and two teenage friends took the canoe out in the recreational lake about 11 p.m. Saturday. The trio, whose families live near the Finger Lake, were heading back to shore at 2:15 a.m. Sunday when the boat capsized just south of a small island near the east end, Trooper Leonard Walner said.
None of the teens were wearing a personal flotation device or had any on board the canoe.
"If they had been wearing PFDs, there wouldn't have been a death here," said Jim Ness, one of a dozen divers who helped find McManamy's body. "If people get into the habit of wearing life jackets every time they're in the water, they never have to worry about seeing us except in church on Sundays."
The boys left the overturned canoe and set off for shore 75 yards away, treading water no more than 12 feet deep, rescuers said.
Christopher Erickson, 16, swam to the island then to shore, where he woke up a camper who had a boat, Walner said. Lance Fleury, 18, tired before reaching shore and swam back to the canoe, where he waited until the camper with the boat arrived a few minutes later, Walner said. Neither of those two teens were injured, rescuers said.
McManamy never made it to shore and went down near the capsized boat. Troopers said they are still investigating the cause of the accident.
Troopers and divers with the Mat-Su Borough Department of Public Safety began arriving by 2:30 a.m. to look for the missing teen. They searched the muddy lake water for an hour and 20 minutes--far longer than anyone could survive being immersed in water, said Ness, the dive chief. Rescuers called off the search before dawn and got some rest, resuming the search at 10:00 a.m.Sunday, Ness said. The bottom of the lake was covered with about 3 feet of mud, which slowed the search.
"This is the worst part of our job," Ness said.
Sunday's drowning followed at least two other recent deaths of people wearing life jackets when there boats capsized. Earlier this month, Jeremy Rollins of Anchorage drowned after a loosely fastened jacket slipped off in a Sterling-area lake. In May, another Anchorage man died days after he was pulled from Cheney Lake after falling in without a life jacket.
The Frontiersman
Front Page
June 24, 1998
Youth dies in Lake
by Amy Menerey
Frontiersman reporter
A Wasilla boy drowned after a canoe accident on Finger Lake early Sunday morning. It was the second drowning in the Valley in the last month.
Brandon McManamy, 17, drowned after a canoe carrying him and two friends, also 17, capsized approximately 50 feet from a small island near the Finger Lake State Campground. McManamy was a Colony High School student.
According to reports, McManamy and his companions fell overboard at approximately 2 a.m. Sunday. One of the boys stayed with the canoe, while another swam to the island, and then another 75 feet to the campground, where he woke an unidentified camper to ask for help.
The camper took the boat out to pick up the remaining boys, after calling 911. McManamy, however, could not be located. It is assumed he also tried to swim to shore.
Public Safety Officer Michael Keenan said that when he arrived on the scene, two of the boys had been retrieved and rescue efforts had been established, After a two-hour search, the team switched to recovery efforts. McManamy's body was found early Sunday afternoon.
McManamy's stepfather, Mark Dunlap, said it was not uncommon for the boys to be out fishing on the lake until early morning hours.
"They went out there continuously," Dunlap said, "but they never wore life vests."
"Brandon was a very quiet, well-behaved child, who started to go through the usual teen-age rebellious stage." Dunlap said,
Funeral arrangements are being made by Kehl's Palmer Mortuary. Viewing will be from 2 p.m. to 9 p.m. Thursday, and services are scheduled Friday afternoon at the Family Christian Center.
The Frontiersman
Letter
to the Editor:
Words of Gratitude Emerge, Even in the Midst of Life's Greatest Pain
A Mother Deals with the Loss of her 17 year old Son
On June 21, 1998 my life changed, drastically. I suffered the greatest loss a mother could ever face. I lost my first born, my only son, Brandon Dean McManamy, at such a young age of only 17. As I face the greatest trial of my life, I do so, with comfort and with gratitude to many, many people.
I want to thank Chris Erickson and Lance Fleury. You two young men had the privilege of having the last hours of Brandon's earthly presence. Though I know these hours caused you great pain and will continue to do so for the rest of your lives, I wanted both of you to know how grateful to God I am that Brandon departed this earth amongst friends he loved so much.
Thank you Chris for your wisdom to react to an emergency the way you did. Thank you for swimming the lengths you did and for going for help. I am so grateful to God for your life, many whom swim for help end up being the ones lost and I am so thankful for your life and for all that you did.
Lance, thank you for trying. I know how hard you tried to get Brandon to turn back to the boat. You did everything you could do for Brandon, don't ever think otherwise. Thank for the beautiful words you spoke to me that morning at the lake, "I'm sorry, he was MY friend." As long as I live I will never forget the beauty of those words. I thank God also for your life. I am so grateful to God for sparing both of your lives that morning and I pray that you will live full, long lives, lives filled with joy.
I wish to thank Dana Fry for all your efforts that morning. You did a lot for all three boys. Thanks for being there Dana that morning and being such a great help.
To all the emergency personal on the scene, Thank you. Often, I know, you don't receive the thanks you deserve for all your efforts. To the Dive Team, I thank you all and the Lord for finding my son in just hours. I know for many families having to face the same tragedy, it is often days. I am so grateful to the Lord and all of you involved that I was blessed by being able to see my son, blessed to see such a peaceful look upon his face, blessed to see the smile on his face, blessed to say good-bye.
To that one young man of the Dive Team who attended Brandon's funeral. I don't know if there was more than just you that day from the Dive Team. I don't remember much of that day, but I do remember you. Thank you for being there, it meant a lot to me that you were. I don't know if it was you, or another member who actually found my son, but I would very much, someday like to meet whomever it was and give my thanks in person.
I wish to thank all my family and friends for all the support, the comfort, the food, the flowers and the financial help you gave to my husband Mark, myself, and our daughter Rachel, for all you did and are continuing to do for us as a family. Words could never express my gratitude for just being there for us. I love you all very much.
I wish to thank my church, Family Christian Center, my pastor, Peter Gallardo and his wife Janet and all of its members. Thank you for the food but especially thank you for all the prayers. Much prayer was sent up to the Father on my family's behalf by my church, my family, friends and so many, many others I am not even aware of. I wish to tell all of you that those prayers were answered as promised by the Lord. Please continue to pray for us, as our grief is only beginning.
Thank you to all of you who Brandon called Friend. Their are so many of you, to many to name. Thanks for being there for us, thanks for the hugs and for the great love in all of your hearts for Brandon. I know you were hugging me for Brandon. I could never tell you how much that meant to me. How much it helped to strengthen me.
I also want to thank those of you who were Brandon's pallbearers. It was hard to pick only eight when Brandon had so many close friends. I know what I asked you to do that day was the hardest thing you ever have had to do. And I thank the Lord for the strength he gave you all that day.
I end this letter thanking my Lord and my Savior, Jesus whom is now enjoying the presence of my precious son, Brandon. To be absent from the body is to be present with the Lord. Thank you Lord for your grace, it is sufficient even in such sadness and loss. Thank you Lord for showering me with your love, your peace and your strength. For enabling me to face each day without my son's laughter, without his smile, without his presence.
Before I close this letter, there is one more thing that must be said. There was an article on the accident that caused my son's death that appeared in the Frontiersman. There was a sentence in this article referring to my son and the usual teenage rebellion. I write these words for the world to see, his rebellion consisted of no more than him telling me he had cleaned up his room when in reality, he had not. My son was very well-behaved as the article also said, but we as his parents called this rebellion.
To my son Brandon, I thank God for the 17 years I did have, the 17 years of laughter, of love. I always knew how blessed I was that God allowed me to be your mother. You were such a good baby, such a well-behaved child. I was and I am still so proud of you. I miss you terribly but I hold within my heart the memories until the day we shall be together again. Until that day Brandon, enjoy the fullness of our Lord, enjoy the splendor of heaven.
Alicia D.
Wasilla, AK.
The Frontiersman
Letter to the Editor:
July, 31, 1998
Goal: 100 or More Life Jackets
I have lived near Finger Lake campground for 33 years. I grew up playing near the lake and my children are growing up near the lake as well.
I was saddened by the recent drowning of a friend of my son's.
I feel if the pubic has access to life jackets on site, more young lives can be saved.
A life-jacket program by Alaska Marine Safety Education Association will provided life jackets, signs and brochures for public use at no charge. This program has already distributed 4,000 life jackets to 115 locations in Alaska. The program has been used in Homer on the docks for several years and has been very successful.
The idea is that life jackets are readily available, children and adults will use them. Dale Bingham, Mat-Su Superintendent of the Alaska Parks, is working with me to provide this service.
Bingham and his staff have agreed to construct a rack at Finger Lake Campground to hold the life jackets, and the park will also store them in the winter.
Our goal is to have 100 or more new life jackets available next year. No life jackets are available from the Alaska Marine Safety Education Association this year due to the tremendous response. We are on the waiting list for the life jackets next year.
This year, I would like to receive donations of life jackets from local businesses and the public.
I would like to encourage all businesses and Valley residents to contribute life jackets or donations to purchase the life jackets.
All donated jackets will be checked by the U.S. Coast Guard for current safety standards.
I am collecting life jackets and donations and labeling them.
I will mark each jacket with the name and phone number of the campground. Life jackets will be placed on the rack immediately after donation.
My goal is to have the rack in use before Labor day weekend. I would like to dedicate the rack to the memory of the drowned Colony High School student, Brandon McManamy.
Anyone wishing to contribute may contact me.
Annette E.
Palmer, Alaska
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