A Kentucky family is mourning 19-year-old Bryson Cottongim, who died after being electrocuted while working as a lineman. Cottongim, a Clay County native, was installing fiber cable from a bucket truck in Harlan County on Tuesday when the accident occurred, just weeks after starting the job.
His cousin, Martin “Payton” Howard, recalled watching Bryson grow up and described him as “definitely one of a kind.” Howard said, “Louder than life. He was always down to do anything outside. Absolutely loved fishing, hunting, racing, hill climbing… anything riding he can ride on, he would ride it.”
Howard also shared how much Cottongim cherished his Dodge truck. “If he wasn’t washing that truck five to 10 times a week, he wouldn’t clean it at all,” he said. “Always had to have money to keep his truck clean and go fishing, put gas in his tank. A lot of times, he was having to buy new tires for his truck because he loved doing burnouts. He would wear the tires off the set of the truck faster than anything you’ve ever seen.”
Close to his family, Cottongim was known for checking in with loved ones. “He would call me randomly or message me throughout the day just to check on me,” Howard said. “He’d call to talk to my son, saying that was his little buddy. Always asking what you was fixing to eat. Love to eat. It don’t matter if he just got done eating. He’d call and say, ‘What are you fixing?’ I’d say, ‘Nothing.’ He’d go, ‘I guess we’re going to starve today.’”
Howard said the loss is difficult to accept. “Everybody loved him,” he said. “Always put a smile on your face, making you laugh. It’s hard to see somebody like that gone that young. His birthday’s coming up next month. He would have been 20 years old.”
A celebration of Cottongim’s life took place on Monday.