Accident Database

Report ID# 3758

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Accident Description

By Conor Feehan Irish Independent

The Irish man who drowned in the US has been identified as Wicklow man Davin Harrison. Davin Harrison (20), from Bray, was rafting on the Delaware river in New York on Saturday afternoon when he got into difficulty while swimming in the water which had recently been swelled by rain. Friends reported that he went-under while swimming alongside the raft and a search was launched immediately. His body was recovered on Monday in the swollen river around 40 feet from the bank.

The area where the accident occurred is knows as Knight's Eddy near Lumberland in Sullivan County. It’s understood that Davin got into difficulty while swimming in the area of the Kittatinny "staircase" rapids. He was not wearing a life jacket at the time. Davin was on a student work visa from Ireland, and was visiting the Sullivan County area from Brooklyn. He grew up in Bray and was a student at Presentation College there. His parents Shane and Marian were on holiday in Alaska when they received the news of the tragedy, and Davin's older brother Oran was also traveling.

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