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Burke County officials investigating Lake James drowning death

A woman died after getting into the lake on Friday.

BURKE COUNTY, N.C. — A death investigation is underway in Burke County after Burke County officials responding to a call about a possible drowning at Lake James.

On Friday, April 21, Burke County 911 received a call about a drowning at Lake James near the Canal Bridge boat access. The caller said that a woman had suffered an asthma attack in the water and was not breathing.

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Witnesses told officials that the victim, 27-year-old Hannah Marie Walker, from Asheville, North Carolina, jumped in the water and then shortly began to not feel well. 

Since Walker suffered from asthma, her fiance gave her an inhaler, but she started to feel worse and then lost consciousness. 

The witnesses said that there was difficulty getting Walker out of the water and back into the boat because of the height of the pontoon boat. 

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The fiance and their friend struggled to get the boat to shore. At that point, a person passing by called 911 and tried to help.

A Burke County Sheriff's Office Lake James Community Officer responded to the scene by boat and helped to get the Walker's boat to the Canal Bridge boat access point, where they started CPR.

After 30 minutes, Walker was pronounced dead. The death investigation is ongoing an awaiting an autopsy

Walker's fiance, 5-year-old son, 5-week-old daughter and fiance's friend were there when the drowning happened. 

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