Thought-to-be lost footage of a man’s final moments alive have been salvaged by a YouTuber – who found his GoPro deep underwater.
Richard Ragland drowned at Foster Falls State Park in Tennessee in 2017 just a few days before his 23rd birthday, and since then his parents, Robin and Gary McCrear, have wondered what happened in the moments before he died.
They now have their answer. YouTuber Rich Aloha found Ragland’s GoPro while diving at the state park, intact with a working memory card filled with videos.
Have a look at the report from WSB-TV below:
Aloha had been told about Ragland from park rangers, and described the experience of finding the camera as an ‘out of body experience’.
Aloha told WSB-TV:
I was going through the footage and I said: ‘Oh my God, this is the guy.’ I’m glad I found it, personally, because I try to do the right thing and get the item back to the rightful owner.
I strongly believe that God led me to this GoPro.
After finding the camera, Aloha went online to track down the family – he eventually found them, and arranged to get the footage to them.
While his parents haven’t been able to bring themselves to watch all of footage, the camera is filled with Ragland enjoying himself with his friends.
Robin McCrear told WSB-TV:
What we’ve seen so far is Rich being Rich, living life to the fullest.
The McCrear couple are especially grateful to Aloha – a self-described treasure hunter – for finding the footage and then going through the effort to send it to them.
Robin added:
For him to go through his efforts to do his research, make numerous phone calls, he didn’t give up until he got in touch with us and that means the world to us.
If you have experienced a bereavement and would like to speak with someone in confidence contact Cruse Bereavement Care via their national helpline on 0808 808 1677.
After graduating from Glasgow Caledonian University with an NCTJ and BCTJ-accredited Multimedia Journalism degree, Cameron ventured into the world of print journalism at The National, while also working as a freelance film journalist on the side, becoming an accredited Rotten Tomatoes critic in the process. He’s now left his Scottish homelands and took up residence at UNILAD as a journalist.