Riptide

Swim tragedy for teen who fought odds in HS

HE PUSHED himself to graduate high school despite being developmentally delayed, but Keith Hope Johnson’s story of determination ended in tragedy Wednesday night when he drowned in the waters off Far Rockaway.

The 19-year-old Bronx man loved to go in the water but couldn’t swim, and his family members believe he waded in up to his legs, when the tides pulled him in.

Johnson went under just after 6:30 p.m. at Beach 17th St. by the Far Rockaway boardwalk, and never surfaced.

Police recovered his body at about 8:50 p.m.

“I’m overwhelmed. It’s so sad,” said Adolia Gannie, 32, his older sister.

One of nine siblings, Johnson was “mentally delayed,” Gannie said.

“His mom had a difficult pregnancy with him, and he survived,” said his aunt, Adina Higgs, 57. “‘Hope’ is an important part of his name because it’s what got the family through last night.”

Johnson (photo) graduated high school from the Queens Transition Center on June 23, his sister said.

“He was a very, very, strongwilled person regarding the challenges he had,” Gannie said. “He always had goals and made sure to accomplish them. And he was very very bright and loving and kind.”

The day he drowned, he was hanging out with a female friend at the Summer Youth Employment training center where he worked, his family said. “We imagine he probably went up to his knees or so in the water. But I believe the riptides got him,” Higgs said. “From what we were told of the young lady, he went under and then came back up and yelled for help. And she ran back to get help. “And when she got back, she could no longer find him and that’s when the search began.” Johnson wanted to start working right after high school, and finished the training program at the employment center last week, his sister said. He got along with his younger siblings, loved going to movies and was an avid fan of Michael Jackson and Marvel’s X-Men superheroes, Gannie said.

“I’m traumatized. That’s my little brother. I’m heartbroken,” she said. “There’s no words to describe how I feel. He hadn’t even started his life yet.”

Another sister, a 26-year-old woman who wouldn’t give her name, questioned why Johnson would enter the water when he didn’t swim, and wondered if he succumbed to peer pressure. Earlier in the day, Johnson went to the movies.

“He called my mom. He said he’s safe — and he was not safe at all,” she said.

Johnson’s family has started a GoFundMe.com page seeking help with funeral costs. It had raised $325 as of Thursday night.

“He was an angel among us. He was an angel. And he gave us hope,” Higgs said. “His middle name was Hope, and I really feel that he gave us hope.”