Drowning death a deterrent for some, but not all swimmers at Big River in Flatrock

The death of Zachary Knee has made some people think twice about getting back in Big River — but not everyone.

"I try to be a little more careful now after the death here," said St. John's resident Nick Pilgrim just after jumping off a rock into the river on Thursday. 

"But usually I just focus on what areas to jump."

Moments earlier, Pilgrim's friend had slipped on a rock while walking out to the jumping point.

He regained his footing, jumped down to another rock and leapt into the rushing water.

"Up right there is a little more scary," Pilgrim said, pointing to the spot they jumped from.

The young men proceeded down to the next pool of water — the one closest to the ocean, where Tuesday's drowning occurred — and continued jumping from the rocks.

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Upstream, a group of three waded in the calmer water above the falls. Tourists from Boston, they said locals had assured them the water was safe to wade in.

Another group of three stood on the shore with no plans to go swimming.

"Walking just then I had this really weird feeling," said local resident Kassidy Gosse. 

"This is kind of sketchy to me. Even now, I don't like being down here."

A familiar feeling

As soon as she heard sirens on Tuesday afternoon, Gosse knew what was happening.

"I knew right away, something happened down to Bark Pot," she said. "We're all a close community. We're all friends here. It's really scary."

Plaques at the river commemorate the losses of Fred Gamberg in 1995 and Chris Codner in 2002.

In 2015, a body was recovered after a man jumped from the last falls, where the river drops into the ocean.

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Brenden Breaker was there that day. He was also at the river on Tuesday night, after he heard there was an accident.

He arrived at the site an hour after police and paramedics had left, only to find people back in the water.

"This whole place was packed again," he said.

While Breaker didn't know Zachary, his little sister had a special encounter with the 16-year-old boy earlier this year.

A Grade 7 student at Holy Trinity, the girl was sitting alone at lunch when Zachary came along with his friends.

"He told his friends to go on and he sat down and ate lunch with my sister," Breaker said.

"That just proves how well of a kid he was."