Thousands of attendees at a UT swim meet Thursday night
tweeted for help for an elderly man struggling for life after being knocked in
to the pool.
Jericho Brantley, a 75-year-old Vietnam veteran watching his
grandson, Joshua Brantley who swims for UT, was bumped into the pool when a
member from the other team plowed him over while watching an episode of The
Daily Show on his phone.
Brantley Sr., a poor swimmer, called for help, and the
multitudes answered.
Thousands of attendees tweeted for emergency medical and
aquatic help with the hashtag #olddudedrowning.
The hashtag was soon trending internationally, catching fire
outside of the pools confines, and sparking facebook pages, tumblrs, and even a
social activist campaign within minutes of the incident.
“The public simply isn’t aware of Mr. Brantley’s plight, and
something must be done.” Said leader of the BRANTLEY2013, Jason Russelt “We’ve
recently been granted $20,000 in funding to produce a feature documentary;
paired with active twitter, facebook, tumblr, and foursquare campaigns, we hope
that the whole world finds it in their heart to share the struggles of Mr.
Brantley and the evil pool constricting his heart, soul, and ability to stay
alive.”
Others yet are using the opportunity to raise awareness for
other needs around the globe. Socio-political groups have used Brantley’s case
as a metaphor for the “drowning” economy. Meanwhile, one group, American’s
against African Thirst, are scrutinizing the campaign, with the leader issuing
a press release calling Brantley Sr. “ignorant”, and stating that “Thousands
are dying of thirst around the globe, especially in Africa, and Jericho
Brantley is indulging in so much water it could kill him.
As of publication Friday morning, the campaign has started
to calm down, with the hashtag falling from the third top trending hashtag
(behind #nickcage and #tbt (throwback Thursdays)), all the way out of the top
100. BRANTLEY2013’s offices were vacated last night, and the leader was spotted
naked, beating on homeless men in downtown L.A.
Sadly, Mr. Brantley did not survive the accident.
By Boolean Kapur
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