Family remembering 34-year-old who drowned in Metcalfe County

METCALFE COUNTY, Ky. – Family members are mourning the life cut short due to a drowning in Metcalfe County.

“It’s like, it’s burned in my brain, forever, just her being little,” said Ashley West, the sister of Amber West.

Thirty-four-year-old Amber West, a mother of five, died trying to rescue her sons from the Little Barren River. The mother was celebrating her twin boys’ 11th birthdays, a day representing life that ended in the loss of hers.

Her older sister, Ashley West, recalled getting ready to go to sleep that night before receiving the news about her sister from their mom.

“I heard a honk outside, and then I went outside, and it was my mom and took two steps, and I saw her face, and I’m screaming, ‘what is it?’ And then that’s when she told me, she said, ‘your sister died.’ I was in shock. I said, ‘how?’ She said, ‘she drowned getting all the boys out the river,’” Ashley West said.

Kentucky State Police dispatch received a call about a possible drowning at 7:57 p.m. The first responder that arrived on scene was Metcalfe County Deputy Sheriff Jarrod Steele, who swam over to Amber and 6-year-old Ryker. He performed life-saving measures on Amber until EMS arrived.

“They said they swam out a little too far. Didn’t mean to, and she went out there, and she got all of them boys out there. Her two, the oldest, the ones who had their birthday and then Ryker, they said she put him on that rock, and she went under and then the next thing you know, they saw her floating,” she said.

Amber West was pronounced dead that night, and 6-year-old Ryker was taken to Norton Children’s Hospital and was released Thursday.

Now, the family is putting a face to the title ‘hero’.

“When me and Amber were around each other, we were just vibing. It was just me and her in our own little world. Now it’s just me against the world, for her,” Ashley West said, wiping tears from her face.

Amber West, a class of 2010 Barren County High School graduate, loved nature, her kids and family.

“I’d go through my messages, and it’s always, ‘dude look at the sky, dude look at the colors, dude look at the moon.’ That’s what she’s always saying, ‘Dude.’ Now, I’ve got the prettiest star in the sky,” her sister said.

Ashley West said if she could say one last thing to her sister, it would be; “You were so brave and you were so strong. That’s the proudest I have ever been of her in my entire life.”

The family is raising money for the children of Amber West and plans on creating a memorial plot for her at the river.

The Kentucky Department of Fish and Wildlife is investigating this case. News 40 will keep following this story.