Part I: "I Should be Dead" says Water Accident Victim

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Story Published: Jul 31, 2007 at 9:57 AM MDT

Story Updated: Nov 7, 2008 at 1:09 PM MDT

By Nate Eaton

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On July 19, a group of BYU-Idaho students were at a swimming hole in Fremont County. It was supposed to be a night of friends and fun, but it quickly turned deadly.

Logan Gerratt, Survived Accident: "Me and Parker just walked away from everyone else so we could talk. The water was only about waist deep and it was pretty calm so we weren't worried about anything. We were just talking and then he turned and took one more step away from me and he just disappeared."

Thus began the worst night of Logan Gerratt's life. Having only been in Idaho a few days, he was with his friends at Monkey Rock. One of them was Parker Bradford, also a freshman at BYU-Idaho.

It was originally thought the two were in a canal when they slipped and were pulled into a whirlpool. But Logan says they were on the other side of the deadly pool in the calm waters when Parker suddenly disappeared.

Gerratt: "I started freaking out and a few seconds later he popped up about 10 to 15 feet upstream."

Not realizing the danger, Logan walked toward his friend but was instantly sucked in as well.

Gerratt: "When Parker first yelled for me to help him, I just thought he couldn't touch or something. i thought he was caught maybe and then when it sucked me in and I couldn't get back on my feet, I knew we were in trouble. Every about 30 seconds we would get a breath. I remember my lungs filling up with water and I just kind of blacked out and I felt my head hit the cement a few times. After about three minutes, I just couldn't do it any longer and I gave up."

During all this, Parker was somehow able to grab on to a bar and scream for help. Regan Hunt heard him so he ran to his truck and grabbed a rope to lower down to his suffering friends.

Regan Hunt, Helped Accident Victims: "It was horrifying. Every once in a while an arm popped out, a leg every once in a while their head. They were pretty much doing constant back flips."

Regan lowered himself into the water and was able to miraculously grab on to both boys. That's when Logan was spit out of the whirlpool toward the waterfall.

Hunt: "Parker got spun around a little bit more. I was trying to grab onto him and he kept slipping. I got him again and the water swept me off my feet and I started getting twirled around in it even with the rope."

To watch or read the rest of the story, click here:

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