Sunday morning Jakoby Moss was leaving a football meeting at Eastern Oregon University in La Grande when he got a text message from a friend back in Bend with a request to “pray for Ryan.”

“Huh?” Moss thought. “What do you mean?”

His friend since they began playing basketball together in fourth grade was in the hospital.

“He’ll be OK,” Moss kept telling himself in reassurance. “He just got hurt in the pool.”

Ryan O’Connell, a recent graduate of Mountain View High School, died Tuesday night after an accident Saturday at the pool at Tetherow resort. He was 17 years old.

“With Ryan, every moment was fun, every conversation ended in laughter,” Moss said. “I have had some time to reflect on our relationship. Every time I think about it there are no bad moments. That goes back to fourth grade basketball.”

O’Connell was set to start school this fall at Montana State University. While at Mountain View, he was a beloved member of the school’s lacrosse team.

“It is a tragic loss,” said Mountain View lacrosse coach Dan Marut. “He was one of these guys who got along with everybody. You wanted to see his journey and where it would go.”

Reports filed by deputies with the Deschutes County Sheriff’s Office describe a frenzied scene Saturday night.

At 8:18 p.m., deputies received word a boy had been pulled from the pool at Tetherow on the outskirts of Bend and CPR was being performed.

Deputy Tanor Steinbracher arrived first and began rescue breaths, soon joined by medics with Bend Fire & Rescue.

Several witnesses told police they’d observed Ryan swimming and practicing “breathing exercises,” or, holding his breath and timing himself underwater, according to deputy Nathan Witherspoon.

Witness Jonathan Strang said it was as though Ryan was “training himself to be able to hold his breath for longer.”

Pool guest Tim Johnson was lying on his side near the pool when he noticed Ryan hadn’t come up for air in “a while.” Johnson jumped in and pulled Ryan to the side, and Strang, Johnson and Tetherow employees called 911, began CPR and eventually used an external defibrillator.

“As soon as I saw what was happening I called 911 and started CPR,” Strang told The Bulletin.

Tetherow employee Clayton Reeves told police that during CPR about three to four cups of water came out of Ryan’s mouth.

Several reported seeing what appeared to be dark vomit in the water.

Strang guessed Ryan had been underwater for approximately 6 minutes. Johnson estimated Ryan was underwater for about 10 minutes.

The boy was taken by ambulance to St. Charles Bend in critical condition.

Deputy Whitherspoon said nothing about the scene, or any witness statements, seemed suspicious.

Tetherow did not respond to The Bulletin’s request to comment on the incident.

For Marut, he saw O’Connell not just as the ultimate teammate who loved playing lacrosse with his friends, but a resilient competitor who worked and rehabbed his way back from a season-ending knee injury his junior year to return to the field for his final season.

“He worked so hard to get back on the field. So many saw him and were inspired,” Marut said. “Ryan’s lesson to me was to be thankful for every moment you have on the field. He was happy to be out there competing, win or lose. That will be something that I will take with me. ”

His impact will be felt for years to come in a physical sense as well.

O’Connell was an organ donor. And on Wednesday an honor walk was held at St. Charles Bend. Roughly 500 of O’Connell’s family, friends, classmates and teammates got to say goodbye as his body was wheeled out of St. Charles hospital to an ambulance to be taken to Portland, Marut said.

“It was hard not to be able to show my support at the walk,” Moss said. “I wanted to be there more than anything. Seeing all the stories on social media, it just showed how many people loved him.”

Moss is starting his freshman year on the Eastern Oregon football team and was given the No. 9 jersey.

A random number now has a little deeper meaning. No. 9 was the same O’Connell wore on the lacrosse team, and the only number Moss remembers his friend wearing.

“Things work out in weird ways,” Moss said. “Ryan was always No. 9 since fourth grade. It was a little bit of a blessing that I have the opportunity to play for him in a way.”