ROMEOVILLE, Ill. (WLS) — A planned five-day trip to a church camp in northern Wisconsin turned tragic for high school students from Community Christian Church in Plainfield. A 14-year-old participating camper unfortunately drowned Friday afternoon.
Langston Britton, 14, of Romeoville was planning to be baptized on Saturday.
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Tragically, he died one day before, after drowning in a lake during church camp on Friday afternoon.
His family and church are overcome with grief.
“This has been the most trying week for my staff, myself, our church, ever since I started as a pastor,” shared Community Christian Church Pastor John Ciesniewski.
Britton was one of some 400 other high school students from their Plainfield church at the Silver Birch Ranch camp in White Lake, Wisconsin.
Swimming in a lake, each student was paired with a swim buddy to help keep them safe in the water.
But his friends reportedly saw Britton struggling in the water, at one point going under without resurfacing.
“His swim buddy said he started to struggle in the water over his head. He reached out for him, but then went under the water,” Ciesniewski said.
The camp issued a statement via social media, mentioning, “Lifeguards were quickly notified by the boy’s companions and took immediate action. They managed to locate and retrieve him from the lake, initiating CPR and life-saving procedures until emergency medical teams reached the site.”
First responders spent more than a half hour attempting to resuscitate him, but to no avail.
His pastor says Britton was devout in his Christian faith, posting videos of reading scripture and preaching on social media.
He was a leader, who would have started in high school next month.
“He was gonna share his testimony with the world,” Ciesniewski said.
The church has set up a GoFundMe account to help raise money for Britton’s funeral and other expenses.
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