Memphis teen drowns in Arkansas lake
A Memphis teen and Douglass High School soccer player drowned Saturday at Greers Ferry Lake in north Arkansas.
Orlando Diaz, 15, slipped into the water at Dam Site Park in Heber Springs before 10:30 a.m., according to the Cleburne County Sheriff’s Department. Initial attempts by onlookers and subsequent rescue efforts made by several local agencies were unsuccessful.
Diaz also played club ball for the Germantown Legends Soccer, where he was coached by Carey Talley.
“We always described Orlando as the kid that plays soccer like it’s the last time he’s ever going to play,” Talley said. “No matter if it was practices or games, he outworked every single person that was there. You just don’t get that in a lot of players, at least nowadays.”
Kenia Segovia, a Russellville, Arkansas, resident, was at Dam Site Park on Saturday.
“My family and I were maybe 10 feet away from him and his family,” she said Monday. “An older gentleman started screaming for help. When it hit me that he was saying someone was drowning, I threw myself in the water. It was me and, like, six other people looking for him.
“We spent 10 or 15 minutes, but we couldn’t see anything at all.”
Segovia, who said she visits Greers Ferry Lake three or four times a year, said that’s about the time rescue personnel arrived on the scene.
“It was horrible,” she said. “His mom was screaming and crying. They literally had to hold his family back. It was just heartbreaking.”
According to Little Rock’s KLRT-TV, free life jackets are available at Dam Site Park but Diaz was not wearing one. The station also reported park rangers said Diaz could not swim and was found in approximately 30 feet of water.
“He was quiet and reserved off the field, but he played with such enthusiasm and life and creativity,” Talley said. “He was always such a breath of fresh air coming into games and trainings.
“He was a smaller kid, but he played like a giant.”