Wallace youth tumbles from fishing boat, drowns
A Wallace teenager drowned last weekend when he fell out of a boat while fishing.
Perry D. Bennett, 15, of Wallace, and a 19-year-old friend were fishing in the Black River near Harrells in Sampson County when the younger youth reportedly suffered a seizure around 10:30 a.m. Saturday and fell overboard, according to the Sampson County Sheriff’s Office.
A sheriff’s spokesman said Bennett suffered from a medical condition that apparently triggered the seizure.
The older teenager jumped into the water to try to rescue Bennett, but his efforts proved futile.
Within a short time, Harrells Fire and Rescue personnel were on the scene. Others who responded included Sampson County Sheriff’s deputies, Sampson County EMS, a county dive team and officers with N.C. Wildlife Resources. Their task became a recovery mission.
Personnel recovered the body just before 5 p.m. Saturday about 40 yards from where the teenager fell into the river.
The mishap occurred in the deepest part of the river, according to the sheriff’s office. Most of the Black River is shallow, but the teenagers were fishing in a bend where water is 15 feet deep.
The youth reportedly was not wearing a life jacket, the sheriff’s spokesman said.
Bennett’s funeral service was held Tuesday evening followed by visitation at The Church of Pin Hook. Graveside services took place Wednesday morning at the Dail Family Cemetery in Pin Hook.
He was preceded in death by his father, Perry Wayne Bennett; grandfather, Bud Bennett, and great-grandparents, Rifton Bradshaw and Adell and Lillie Henderson.
Survivors include his mother, Monica Bradshaw; special family friend, Trent Smith; a sister, Melanie Bennett Ford; aunts and uncles, Battle and Brook Holley and Brandon and Brooke Bradshaw; grandparents, Stanley and Barbara James, Mickey and Kay Bradshaw and Carolyn Howard, and great-grandmother, Louise Bradshaw Brinson.
