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An 18-year-old high school football player drowned while kayaking with a friend in Florida, according to officials in Polk County.
Aaron Tillman, the captain of his team in Winter Haven, was pulled from Lake McLeod after he disappeared on Sunday. Marine unit deputies pulled the man’s body around 5am on Monday after a 14-hour search of the area, which spans 410 acres about 50 miles east of Tampa.
Polk County Fire Rescue responded to the incident after 3pm, but authorities could not locate Tillman. He had been kayaking with a 19-year-old woman who saw him in the water trying to stay afloat, according to WFLA. She and a witness tried to help him but he disappeared underwater.
“Everybody is going to miss him,” Eryk Anglin, the football coach and pastor at Ambassadors Christian Academy said. “The team is not going to be the same.”
The coach had been on his way to pick Tillman up for a fundraising event when the man’s mom called him and said her son was missing. He then went to the lake and stayed there until officials found the player’s body.
“He was such a respectful, honorable kid,” Anglin told The Miami Herald. “He never talked back, always tried to get the team to listen to the coaches. He didn’t deserve this.”
Police said Tillman couldn’t swim and had never been kayaking. Neither of the two individuals were wearing life jackets at the time of the incident.
The pair paddled about 150 yards from the shore. The woman then jumped into the water, which was about 12 to 15 deep. When she surfaced, she saw Tillman in the water as well, struggling to swim.
Tillman had plans to continue with the sport in college. He was a linebacker and tight end. He also planned to lead the wrestling team this school year.
