ALGIERS, La. (WGNO) — Fifteen-year-old Kevin Poole was laid to rest Saturday.
His friends and family deemed him a hero for trying to rescue his 14-year-old friend Brandy Wilson after she fell into the Mississippi River in April.
“A lot of people think when you die, that’s the end of the story,” family friend Michael Willis said. “Sometimes that becomes the new story.”
According to Willis, it was a story of what’s to come. He said he’s taking action from the tragedy to make sure Kevin’s life lives on in his hometown.
“The youth — we can’t give up on them. We can take this situation and grow from it as a community, heal together,” Willis said. “I want to figure out how do we start scholarship funds for what [Kevin, Brandy and Ally Wilson-Berry] believed in, what they wanted to be in life, what their imagination was so that the next kid, we can give them something and inspire them to further their education.”
Eight-year-old Ally Wilson-Berry, Brandy’s little sister, tried to save both of them. Her body has yet to be found.
The search for her body continued near Plaquemines Parish Saturday.
Loved ones put prayer to the test, calling it a miracle to find two of the children so far. They hoped their faith would bring Ally home, as well.
“Everybody’s in good spirit,” Willis said. “So, if they can keep their head up, hold their head up, it shows that we all can hold our head up.”
