21-year-old drowns on vacation after family tries saving him with rope, Iowa divers say

A 21-year-old man drowned in an Iowa lake while on vacation with his family, rescuers said.

Moments before his death, Alexander Glover, a resident of Cedar Rapids, jumped off a boat to swim in West Okoboji Lake on May 20, according to a news release from a local dive team.

While attempting to swim back to the boat, which had drifted away from him, Glover became fatigued and slipped underwater.

His family members tossed him a rope, but he couldn’t swim to it, rescuers said.

A man kayaking nearby dove into the lake, which was about 13 feet deep in the area, and pulled Glover up. Members of his family then began administering CPR.

A local fire and rescue team later arrived at the scene and got Glover to shore. He was then taken to a nearby emergency room, where he was pronounced dead.

The lake temperature at the time of Glover’s drowning was 57 degrees Fahrenheit, rescuers said, which is cold enough to cause loss of breathing control, according to the National Center for Cold Water Safety.

“It is very hard to tell his story, but he was the light in the room,” Glover’s family members wrote on a GoFundMe page they said was set up to raise money for his funeral.

“Regardless of the audience, he was always the voice you heard and laughed with... or at,” the family wrote. “Alex never turned away from a challenge nor did he shy away from confrontation... He was our fearless boy.”

Glover was the father of a 1-year-old daughter, and his girlfriend is expecting his second child, according to The Gazette.

West Okoboji Lake is in Dickinson County, which is about 200 miles northwest of Des Moines.

This story was originally published May 23, 2023 at 12:58 PM with the headline "21-year-old drowns on vacation after family tries saving him with rope, Iowa divers say."