Benefit Concert Held For Teen Who Drowned

Saturday, August 11th 2007, 4:32 pm

By: News On 6

There hasnâ€™t been much time off this summer for a group of students from Oologah, who lost a friend in a terrible accident the day before graduation. The News On 6â€™s Joshua Brakhage reports now theyâ€™re trying to get some good out of their grief.

Harrison Lodes and a few of his classmates were celebrating during their senior class picnic. They tried to tackle the rapids downstream from the Oologah Dam spillway, but got caught in the undertow. Two boys were injured, but made it to shore. Rescuers couldn't find Harrison until the next day, May 19, 2007, the morning of his high school graduation.

"Too painful to talk about. Honestly, to see kids buying school clothes and books and stuff, it's tough, it's really tough," Harrisonâ€™s mother Cindy Buxton.

Cindy Buxton says being surrounded by students is difficult, a group of Harrisonâ€™s friends is sharing in her suffering.

"Do you think twice about the water now?â€ asked News On 6 reporter Joshua Brakhage.

"Oh, yeah. Oh, yeah, always," said Harrisonâ€™s classmate Eric Gallermon.

"Yeah. I hadn't been in the water until like the other day, because we pretty much lived on the lake and skied and everything, and I haven't been in the water since,â€ said Kaz Wert, Harrisonâ€™s friend. â€œWe went to Hawaii on vacation and it was so hard getting in the water and stuff."

"You have to deal with it, I mean it's gonna be there always, you can't live the rest of your life being scared of something," Harrisonâ€™s friend Bryce Underhill said.

Bryce Underhill was one of the boys fished out of the water. He still doesn't like to think about what happened, but he and his friends are trying to turn their grief into good. And their mission is set to music.

"Like every 18-year-old boy he wanted to be a rock star, and he sure looked like a rock star,â€ said Buxton. â€œPart of what he did, he sang in a band, I don't know if you'd call it music, it got to the point they had to start turning down bands."

Harrisonâ€™s classmates helped organize a benefit concert Saturday night to raise money in his memory. They hope to raise $10,000 at the concert for a water rescue boat. Rogers County currently has to borrow one in emergencies, and a boat of their own would buy victims precious time.

"And there's been several cases of like drownings, and like near drowning incidents just because we couldn't get a boat fast enough,â€ Wert said.

"We want to save lives, we want to keep our rescue workers safe and we will name the boat Harrison's Saving Grace," said Buxton.

Harrison's mother says the boat won't be just for the lake. It would also be on stand-by for floods, to get to people stranded in the high water.

If youâ€™d like to donate to the Harrison Lodes Memorial Fund you can do so at any Arvest bank.

Watch the video: Benefit Concert Held To Help End Lake Tragedies

Related Stories:

5/18/2007 Teen Missing After Rafting Accident

5/19/2007 Teen's Body Recovered After Rafting Accident

5/22/2007 Family And Friends Remember Teen Who Drowned