Family remembers teen who died trying to save friend who fell through Kennesaw lake ice
Koren Troy Brooks (Credit: Brandy Wells)
COBB COUNTY, Ga. - For almost two hours throughout the evening of Dec. 28, authorities swarmed a small Kennesaw lake where nearby residents say they witnessed a tragedy. In the blink of an eye, a group of children playing on what they thought was sturdy ice were screaming for a child who fell through. The teenager who tried to save the boy did not survive.
Koren Troy Brooks, 16, is being remembered as a hero, according to his aunt.
Koren was playing with a group of four friends on top of Ellison Lake near Lakeside Vista Apartments. One neighbor, Alex Pollard, so he noticed the youngsters out there while bringing in groceries around 5 p.m.
"It looked pretty sturdy at first, so I didn't think much of it," Pollard said, adding that the pond doesn’t appear that deep at that end.
However, moments later, neighbors said they heard screams.
CHILD KILLED, ANOTHER RECOVERING AFTER FALLING THROUGH ICE AT KENNESAW LAKE
"We see two kids trapped in the ice, one of the kids was holding on to the other one," Pollard said.
Pollard yelled for his roommate to call 911 and the Kennesaw Police Department were the first to the scene.
Officers were able to pull one of the two young victims out to safety. He was taken to a hospital to recover.
Firefighters got involved in the search for the second boy, but it was not until 6:50 p.m. that they were able to locate him. Though they tried efforts to resuscitate him, the boy, who family later identified as Koren, did not make it.
Koren's aunt, Brandy Wells, told FOX 5 that her nephew was just trying to help the first boy who fell into the lake and drowned.
"Koren saved his friend's life, but the cold slushy iced water was [too] much," she wrote in a GoFundMe posted to help the family with funeral costs. "Koren got caught in debris under the cold water and didn't come up."
On the first day of 2023, Wells said the family was still not ready to talk to the media about their loss. Instead, she shared a quote from Koren's mother.
"Koren's life is an important symbol of bravery as he had saved another's life," his mother said. "For Koren, life will be the remembrance of hope and victor! I love you, son. And I am proud of you."
Wells described her nephew as a genius who loved video games and maintained straight-A's as a junior at Kennesaw Mountain High School. She said he was bright, helpful, shy and funny. He had teachers, friends and family who adored him and a charming smile that would light up any room, she said.
In order to help the family cover funeral costs and relocation fees for Koren, Wells created a GoFundMe shortly after the incident. At the writing of this article, that fundraiser sat at $5,557 of its $30,000 goal.