The heartbreaking final words of a teenager who drowned after his brothers dared him to swim across a lake

These are the heartbreaking final words of a teenager who drowned after his brothers dared him to swim in a lake.

In 2020, a 19-year-old boy drowned in the Tunica County lake after his brothers dared to swim across it.

The victim, known as JW Ransom, was about to graduate from high school when the tragic accident occurred.

Chilling video of Ransom swimming in the lake captured his heartbreaking last words before he got into trouble and drowned.

A family friend said Ransom was visiting friends when everything happened.

“It's a painful feeling. Seeing him fall into the water, screaming for help but no one could help him,” Grenisha Rogers, a family friend, said at the time of his death.

Rogers added that people tried to save Ransom, but the water was just too deep.

“When the firefighters arrived, they told us it was a drop-off and it was 30 feet deep,” she said.

Ransom left behind a child, with Rogers confirming: “…He has a child. He has a seven-month-old child. So it's just a painful feeling that no one wants. »

Investigators said it happened at a lake at the Cypress Lake Apartments near Casino Center Drive Extension on May 23, 2020.

A video circulating online shows Ransom swimming across the lake and reveals what he told his friends before taking the plunge.

Before entering the water, JW jokingly said, “If I drown, who will pick me up?”

He could be seen swimming across most of the lake, before the video cut off and his friends and family panicked.

A lifeguard in the comments to the video on

“It’s not hype, it’s very subtle and calm. This is such a sad situation, I hope more people learn the importance of learning to swim, not to joke like that and wear a life jacket if necessary.

One person who shared a similar experience in Ransom said: “Also… don’t swim in cold water. Your body and lungs shut down and you can't move.

“I almost drowned crossing my friend's pond in Minnesota in April, many years ago.”

A post about the horrific incident on Reddit claimed that Ransom was promised “a down payment on his car” if he managed to swim across the lake and back.

Featured Image Credit: FOX13 Memphis

Topics: American news