IOWA, USA — Shannon Morrow received a call that every person fears earlier this month.
"At that time, when I got the call there, we really didn't know exactly what was going on," she said. "When that, you know, the incident, happened and people were taken to Methodist hospital."
With little knowledge about the situation at hand, Shannon went to two separate hospitals before she realized that her brother did not make it out of the water with the others.
Her brother, Ricco Morrow, had been tubing earlier that day on the Racoon River with a group of people. Two people in the group got stuck inside metal tubing from nearby construction.
Ricco was lost in the water while trying to save them. First responders were able to get the rest of the group to shore safely.
Days later, authorities told Shannon and her mother, Bernice, that Ricco's body was found in the Raccoon River.
"It's put a big, dark hole in our family, especially being that it wasn't expected," Shannon said. "We didn't get the chance to say our last goodbyes."
Ricco's family describes his swimming skills as strong, but Captain Chris Clement with the Des Moines Fire Department says the river is no match for a human — no matter their strength.
"They don't realize until they get into the that moving water, just how much force it has. If it comes to the river against you, you will lose every single time," Clement said.
Swimming in rivers is against a Des Moines city ordinance designed to prevent stories like Ricco's, according to Clement.
"There's a reason that the city of Des Moines ordinance prohibits swimming in the in the rivers, the Des Moines or Raccoon Rivers, and it's simply for safety," he said. "So the best, best advice is just simply don't swim in the rivers."
In the last month, river drownings including an 11-year-old on the Raccoon River and another 11-year-old on the Cedar River have put water safety at the forefront of people's minds.
Ricco's mother, Bernice Kenp, is proud that her son's final moments were spent trying to help others.
"It just shows you what type of person he was, the loving person he was," she said.