Investigators say, the Greenville man who died after being pulled from the water at Lake Keowee Monday, had helped another person in distress moments earlier.
Oconee County Coroner Karl Addis says, 38 year old Micheal Criswell was a non-swimmer. He was wading with some friends on a Fourth of July outing at Stamps Creek Landing near Seneca, when someone else started struggling in the water nearby. Criswell rushed to help, pushing the frightened swimmer to safety.
Seconds later Criswell started struggling, then went under. Bystanders eventually managed to pull him from the water while one called for help. He was rushed to Prisma-Oconee Memorial. Coroner Karl Addis pronounced him dead from "complications of drowning" about 90 minutes later. Lake Keowee, like other flooded-valley reservoirs, is notorious for rugged underwater terrain. Near shorelines that were once hillsides waist-deep water can drop dramatically to twenty or thirty feet.
