Boy Back Home Recovering From Near Fatal Fall

SPOKANE — A young boy who nearly drowned last week during an outing to Riverside State Park is recovering at home now and says he owes his brother everything.

The incident happened last week along the Spokane River just off Seven Mile Road and Riverside Park Drive. Jay Stroble was playing with his brothers at the park when he nearly died.

“One of the other boys fell down the bank my brother was trying to get him back up,” Jay said. “Rocks were sliding [and] one of the rocks hit me in the back of the head.”

Jay, unconscious, fell face first into the Spokane River.

“I heard a splash thought he fell in by himself thought he was going to get back out,” Jay’s older brother Devin said.

It didn’t take long for Devin to realize the severity of the situation. With the river running fast and his brother not moving Devin, who is a Boy Scout, moved down to the river’s edge and saved his little brother’s life.

“First thing I saw I could grab was his leg,” Devin said. “I concluded he wasn’t breathing so I had to do CPR.”

Devin, who had been certified in CPR the month before, says he knew his training would come in handy but still putting his skills to the test was a little nerve wracking.

While friends and family are thanking Devin for saving his brother’s life, for Devin this experience has taught him how much Jay means to him..

“Because he’s the younger, annoying brother but now I feel I need to be around him more because he’s more fragile than he was,” Devin said.

As for Jay, he’s still suffering from headaches and is a little groggy. His skull was fractured in five places and now has a titanium plate and 15 stitches from his injuries. It will take him up to a year to recover from his injuries, and doctors say that means playing baseball or riding motorcycles.

Jay, who calls his brother Devin a hero for saving his life, has added going to the river to his list of things he doesn’t plan on doing anytime soon as well.