SAPELO ISLAND, Ga. — It’s now been a year since seven people passed away during a cultural celebration in Sapelo island in Georgia after a gangway collapsed.
Now one city council member is making sure they will be remembered for a lifetime as they look to place a new monument in their behalf.
“I wanted the memory of those people that were going to Sapelo island I wanted they were studying to be to immovable,” Rahman Johnson, Jacksonville city council member, said. That’s how city council member Rahman Johnson refers to the Sapelo 7, The seven seniors who died when a gangway collapsed on Sapelo island in Georgia on October 19th 2024.
Those who died were there for a Gullah Geechee heritage festival when the collapse happened.
Now Johnson is looking to Create a permanent remembrance of those who lost their lives a year ago. “As we commemorate them what we are going to do is a piece of place making and put this boulder in freedom park,” he said.
Rahman Johnson says the park already has information on the Gullah Geechee culture and they want the boulder nearby so people can remember but also learn about what happened.
The boulder will also have a plaque on it with the names of those who lost her lives, and also a QR code, connecting visitors to a library database.
“Want this a beautiful place for us to take our kids our grandkids, and say this is part of history in our city just take a look,” Johnson said.
Now they are looking for your input as they have a survey as to what saying can go on the plaque.
“ I hope to move morning to celebration,” council member Johnson said.
>>> STREAM ACTION NEWS JAX LIVE <<<
[DOWNLOAD: Free Action News Jax app for alerts as news breaks]
[SIGN UP: Action News Jax Daily Headlines Newsletter]
Click here to download the free Action News Jax news and weather apps, click here to download the Action News Jax Now app for your smart TV and click here to stream Action News Jax live.
