Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: FRIDAY, August 4, 1995 TAG: 9508040044
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: B3 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: KIMBERLY N. MARTIN STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
It was the first time the family had fished from the river's banks, and Phu "was playing with the water," explained Nhan Pham, Phu's 10-year-old sister. Phu's parents speak little English.
That's when the "water took" Phu from the ledge and the current pulled him under, she said.
His father jumped in and tried to save him, but Phu could not swim. And the dark, murky water swallowed the 17-year-old.
Rescue workers found Phu's body more than an hour later.
"It was an unfortunate, tragic accident," said Blue Ridge Parkway ranger Richard Morefield, who responded to the accident with Roanoke County police.
Phu was a quiet teen-ager, said one of his older sisters, Chinh Le.
Although Phu liked tennis, he shied away from sports at Salem High School. He would have been a senior this school year. He favored drawing - colored sketches, mostly.
"One time he drew me a picture of Abraham Lincoln. He drew a lot. He wanted to be an artist," Nhan said of her brother, who had dreams of going to college.
The walls of his new room - he just moved into the room about a week ago - are bare. He still hadn't unpacked many of his things.
But stuck between the pages of his school notebooks are some of his sketches, along with letters written in Vietnamese.
Five years ago, Phu and his family moved to the Roanoke Valley from the Philippines. Before that, they lived in Vietnam. Area churches helped them build their life in Salem. And Thursday they leaned on their faith to help them deal with Phu's death.
Surrounded by friends, they sat before a basement altar and prayed.
Keywords:
FATALITY
by CNB