Man dies after bystanders pull him from French Broad river

Karen Chávez | Asheville Citizen Times

Show Caption Hide Caption Salvage Station patrons pull tuber from river Witnesses at Salvage Station swam out to a man who was tubing in the French Broad, administering CPR to him before emergency personnel arrived

ASHEVILLE - A South Carolina man died Tuesday in the French Broad River following what rescuers believe to be a tubing accident.

Lawrence Ham, 63, from Sumter, S.C., was transported to Mission Hospital after being pulled from the river by two bystanders and ultimately by swift water rescuers, but was not able to be revived, according to a release from the Asheville Fire Department.

According to Heath White, owner of Zen Tubing, the 63-year-old man had rented tubes along with his wife and son-in-law.

"From what other people told us, we believe he had a medical condition," White said.

Two men enjoying lunch and a beer alongside the French Broad River Tuesday jumped into action to pull the man from the water before swift water rescuers could arrive.

Asheville Fire Department Spokeswoman Kelley Klope said the AFD responded to the call around 4 p.m. in the 450 block of Riverside Drive, near the Salvage Station bar and event venue, according to Klope.

The bystanders, Kenny Waldron of Maggie Valley and Jacob Cabe of Waynesville, were doing CPR when rescuers arrived, Klope said.

They had just gotten off work early from a construction job, Waldron said, and were sitting along the river enjoying lunch and a beer.

"I heard someone screaming (that) someone was drowning," Waldron said. "So Jacob and I jumped in the river. I pulled him out, and the back of his head was blue from bruises and he was coughing."

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Waldron said he and Cabe, who is also a rafting guide on the Nantahala River with Fast River Guides, were able to roll the man onto a log. Other people in the river also stopped to help, he said.

The French Broad River is approximately 100 yards from were the two were sitting to the opposite bank where they found the man in distress. Klope also pointed out that the river was running higher and faster than usual following days of rain.

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This marks the second death on the French Broad River this year. On May 15, Delmer Melvin Garratt, 56, of Lakeland, Florida., drowned while kayaking on the river at Ledges River Park north of Asheville and somehow got pinned.

It is also the fifth death this year in a Western North Carolina river accident.