The Jaxsn Cahill Memorial at West Kelowna’s Gellatly Bay Park. Candles still burn in memorial for the 15-year-old who died Aug. 17. (Mackenzie Britton - Capital News)

The Jaxsn Cahill Memorial at West Kelowna’s Gellatly Bay Park. Candles still burn in memorial for the 15-year-old who died Aug. 17. (Mackenzie Britton - Capital News)

Memorial grows for teen who drowned in Okanagan Lake

Jaxsn Cahill drowned at Gellatly Bay Park in West Kelowna on Aug. 17

  • Aug. 20, 2019 12:00 a.m.

Candles still burn at Jaxsn Cahill’s memorial in West Kelowna.

The 15-year-old drowned in Okanagan Lake at Gellatly Bay Park on Aug. 17.

The community has since set up a memorial site for Cahill on the main wharf at the park.

Skateboards, hats, flowers and touching letters fill the wharf left there by friends, family and the community.

“Immortal in everyone’s thoughts,” says one message at the memorial.

“Your energy and spirit will continuously be felt and carried through all of us,” says another.

READ MORE: 15-year-old boy drowns after midnight jump into Okanagan Lake

READ MORE: Kelowna man nearly drowns on Okanagan Lake

The skateboard-loving teen is described at the memorial as “one of the realest and truest friends” and as a “best friend and a brother.”

Cahill had jumped from the wharf dock in the early morning last Saturday and did not resurface.

Emergency responders pulled him from the water and attempted CPR at the scene, then rushed him to Kelowna General Hospital.

He was pronounced dead at the hospital.

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