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EDMOND, Oklahoma (KOCO) — The mother of a 20-year-old man who drowned at Arcadia Lake on Sunday wants her son’s story told after he went swimming and didn’t make it back to shore.
Seth Nash’s family was at the lake for his mother’s birthday party. Seth had helped coordinate the party for her.
“We went to the lake to celebrate me,” Ginger Nash said.
What was supposed to be a day of celebration ended with the last time she would see her son alive.
Ginger said Seth is remembered as a reader, gamer and helper.
“He’s a CNA. He works in nursing homes, and he actually enjoyed it,” Ginger said.
His life was cut short when he went into the lake to swim. Crews responded to what investigators called a “tragic, accidental drowning,” and a dive team pulled him from the water.
“I didn’t even get a picture of me and all my kids. I wanted one,” Ginger said.
She said she was on an inflatable boat, taking turns with the children to make sure no one got hurt, when she heard Seth go under and he didn’t resurface.
“My boyfriend, who tried to help him, told me he was getting pulled under, too. He was afraid that my son was going to pull them both under,” Ginger said. “I would have kept trying no matter what. But then, where would his siblings be without me, too?”
She said she joined the search efforts and prayed, but she said she knew he had been underwater for a long time.
“I knew when I stepped out of that lake, I was going to step into hell, and I was right,” Ginger said.
She said her son was strong, but that wasn’t enough.
“I don’t know what could have been enough in that moment,” Ginger said.
His mother is calling on the community to help give her son a proper farewell. A GoFundMe has been created to help the family with funeral costs.
“I got to kiss him goodbye. But now, I want to do it again,” Ginger said.
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