Fairbanks Man Drowns In Pond

30-Year-Old Ryan Stratton drowned in Olnes Pond on Saturday after his canoe turned over.

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By Heather VacLav

A Fairbanks man drowned late Saturday night after a canoeing accident. Alaska State Troopers said 30-year-old Ryan Stratton fell from his canoe in Olnes Pond off the Elliott Highway.

Emergency response workers recovered his body and pronounced him dead at the scene. Troopers said alcohol played a factor in the accident, and that the two other men canoeing with Stratton, swam safely to shore. However, none of the men were wearing life jackets.
 

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Niece said on Monday, Jun 20 at 6:00 AM

Ryan Stratton was my uncle i didnt really get to see much of him since my parents, two siblings and i live in new york and flight tickets up there cost tons of money. yes i wish he had not tried to swim from the canoe to the shore. i was informed that Ryan was the only one who tried to swim it, his two buddies had told him to get back on the boat but he insisted on swimming. when we found out about this my friend was over and it was about 2 in the morning and my mom broke into hysterics. i dont believe it was those peoples fault because it probably didnt look like he was drowning until he went under. - 13, Chelsea.

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ben said on Tuesday, Jun 14 at 8:19 PM

People weren't trying to video tape him drowning, they were video taping him coming out of the water. Whats sad is that there were 5 Air Force members, all certified in life saving skills and CPR, camped out 100 yards away, but we were unaware what was going on. Noone at his camp yelled for help unil he had already been under the water for 5 minutes. I, along with 3 other military looked for him for 20 minutes, until we were cleared off the water by Alaska State Troopers. Sorry for their loss, but Ryan's chances of survival would have greatly increased if someone would have yelled for HELP.

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FBKSMom said on Wednesday, Jun 1 at 1:45 AM

Miranda I am so sorry you had to witness that.

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Miranda said on Monday, May 30 at 11:19 PM

I am only 12 years old and this is what I saw. There was a lot of people there witnessing it, but no one tried to help him. And in the pond it was really cold and deep, 25-50 ft. down. And people there were trying to video tape him drowning!I'm just standing there like "how can video tape this!" It was horrible.

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