By Christopher Leach
Lexington Herald-Leader
LOUISVILLE, Ky. — A 35-year-old Kentucky paramedic died in a drowning incident Monday, according to the Anchorage Middletown Fire & EMS Department.
Sgt. Christian Smith drowned while swimming at Barren River Lake, the department said in a Facebook post. Jordan Yuodis, a spokesperson for the department, said it was an off-duty incident with co-workers.
No other information about the incident was provided. An autopsy is being performed.
After the autopsy the Kentucky Organ Donor Association is expected to harvest Smith’s organs for donation, according to Yuodis.
Smith was a firefighter and paramedic with the department and had worked there since 2014. He graduated from Fairdale High School in Louisville.
“He loved the fire department a whole lot,” Yuodis said.
Smith had a wife and three children, according to a PayPal website created to raise funds for Smith’s family. Yuodis said all of Smith’s kids are under six years old.
The fundraiser’s goal is $50,000 and over $5,000 has already been raised.
The Anchorage Middletown Fire & EMS Department is the second-largest fire and EMS department in Kentucky and serves eastern Jefferson County and the Metro Louisville area, according to its Facebook page.
“The days and weeks ahead will be challenging, but it is crucial that we stand united as a department,” the department said in its Facebook post.
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