Vigils are being held for a young seminarian who was swept away after trying to save a drowning woman.
Brian Bergkamp, 24, was kayaking in the Arkansas River with four friends when they encountered turbulent waters on July 9. One of his female friends fell in, and Bergkamp – who wasn't wearing a life jacket – entered the water to save her.
The woman and three others were able to reach the shore, but Bergkamp remains missing and is believed dead.
He had just finished his second year at the Mount St Mary's Seminary in Emmitsburg, Maryland, where he was studying theology. He was due to be ordained as a priest in 2018.
Wichita Bishop Carl Kemme said in an email to his diocesan newspaper that Bergkamp was "an exceptional seminarian, well on his way to demonstrating so many of the qualities needed to be a good and faithful priest".
"I personally looked forward to the day when I might be able to ordain him," Kemme added. "I was looking forward to how God would use him as a priest in the Diocese of Wichita. Now, we must all mourn his much anticipated ministry and the many fruits we all knew would be abundant by his priestly life and ministry."
Fellow seminarian, Jimmy Schibi, told KSN News Bergkamp was "one of the most selfless individuals I ever met".
"He gave up his life to be a priest, but before he could do that, he gave up his life for another," he added.
"He would go out of his way to help someone and forget about his own, probably, self in the process," said vice rector of Mount St Mary's, Fr Kenneth Brighenti. "So what he did was a very natural thing for him".
In a profile on the Catholic Diocese of Wichita's website, Bergkamp said he had wanted to become a priest since a very young age. "I want to say I first heard the call when I was really young, like 8 years old young. I don't know though if I would quite consider this a calling or just my first time I had the desire to become a priest. I remember in 2<sup>nd grade, my close friend and I would argue back and forth on who would be a priest first. And as time would tell, it looks like we will both be priests at the same time, for we are now both entering the seminary."
Prayer services are being held every day until Bergkamp's body is found.
