Local graduate drowns on school trip Local graduate drowns on school trip (September 03, 2004)

Heroic efforts by classmate saves brother

By David Herbert

Recent Mountain View Academy graduate Eric Lee, 18, drowned last weekend and his brother Kevin, 15, was rescued by a classmate during a school wilderness trip.

The brothers, both of San Jose, were on a Mountain View Academy school trip to the Emigrant Wilderness, located just north of Yosemite National Park. They, along with other students, were swimming in Granite Lake, which derives its name from stone islands rising out of the water and the sheer rock cliffs surrounding it, on the afternoon of Aug. 28.

The Lees, along with other boys, began swimming to distant islands in the lake. According to Sean Cochrane, a 15-year-old sophomore at MVA, the brothers were about 60 feet from the island he was resting on when the two began shouting for help, saying that they could not make it.

Parents on the shore included Sean's father, Tom Cochrane, who is a member of the NASA Disaster Assistance and Rescue Team. He stripped off his clothes and dove into the lake, but soon realized he would not make it.

"Sean, go get them!" Tom yelled to his son.

Sean said he initially hesitated to dive in after hearing the brothers' calls, remembering that frantic people will often drown their rescuers with them. But once he heard his father shout, he dove into the chilly water.

"When I jumped in, I thought about getting there as fast as I could and getting them back to shore," he said.

Sean reached the boys and began pulling them both back toward the island. He was able to push Kevin up on the rock, which was difficult to ascend, and then turned to grab Eric, only to see him sinking. Sean, exhausted and becoming hypothermic, was unable to continue and climbed onto the rock island.

By that time, Tom Cochrane, along with a number of boys, had arrived at the island and dove into the water, he said. But waters were icy cold at the 8,700-foot elevation, and after a while only Tom could continue. Plunging again and again into the murky water, he was able to reach the bottom over 25 feet beneath the surface several times, but saw no sign of Eric.

The Lees' father was also at the scene but had to be restrained from jumping in because he is not an able swimmer. Eventually, Tom tied a rope to the boys' father and allowed him to dive in, but he could not find his son and was hauled back out.

After an hour had passed, Sean Cochrane and Kevin Lee were both suffering from hypothermia, another student involved in the effort had dislocated his shoulder, and Tom himself was beginning to succumb to the cold. He called off the effort and climbed a nearby hill to get cellular phone reception and called emergency services.

The rescue team arrived soon thereafter, but needed to acclimatize for two hours at the high altitude before diving and called off the search since the sun was setting. The next day, divers found Eric Lee's body just around the corner of the island, in much shallower water. He had apparently tried to climb up the rock's face from underwater but had mistakenly gone sideways out of view of the rescuers.

At Mountain View Academy, students are trying to cope with the death of their former classmate. They are organizing a chapel service in his memory and planning on attending his funeral this Saturday.

"It has been shaking for people to realize how close death can be," said MVA Principal Stanley Baldwin. "It makes kids stop and think maybe they aren't invincible."

Eric Lee, a 2004 graduate of the Mountain View Academy, was planning on attending Foothill College in the fall.

A viewing will be held Sept. 3 from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m. There will be a Buddhist service the following morning and a memorial service later on Sept. 4 from 12:30 p.m. to 2:30 p.m. All services will be held at Oak Hill Funeral and Memorial Park, 300 Curtner Ave., San Jose.

E-mail David Herbert at dherbert@mv-voice.com

E-mail a friend a link to this story.