Community Rallies Around Family Of Drowning Victim In Fairfield

FAIRFIELD, CT — The community is rallying around a Fairfield family after a 17-year-old tragically died after drowning at Perry’s Mill Pond on Saturday evening. Nagee Crowder was unresponsive when he was pulled from the pond at about 7 p.m. on Saturday and was rushed to the hospital where resuscitative efforts continued until St. Vincent's medical staff pronounced him dead at 8:10 p.m., according to Lt. Robert Kalamaras. Crowder was a senior at Fairfield Ludlowe High School.

A GoFundMe page has been created in support of the family by Molly McHugh, a teacher at Fairfield Woods Middle School. McHugh wrote on the page that while she didn’t know Crowder personally, his three siblings have attended Fairfield Woods and she has worked closely with the family in the past “as they have had many hardships fall upon them.”

“They are a fairly new family to the community and they do not have the support needed to get through such a tragedy,” McHugh wrote on the GoFundMe page. “While the emotional strain of losing a child/sibling is something no family wants to even imagine having to handle, for this family, the financial strain is also weighing heavy on them.”

Emergency crews responded to Perry’s Mill Pond, located at 757 Sturges Road, shortly after 6 p.m. Saturday on the report of a possible drowning. Witnesses told the first-arriving fire units they were swimming in the pond when one of their friends could not get to shore and slipped below the water’s surface, according to Assistant Fire Chief Roger Caisse.

Crowder was seen jumping into the water off a paddleboard and when his friends saw him in distress, they made attempts to help but were unable to save him, according to Kalamaras.

More than $16,000 has been raised in support of the family since the GoFundMe page was created on Monday. You can visit the GoFundMe page here. (Update: More than $25,000 was raised as of late Tuesday night)

Image via Shutterstock