CLAY COUNTY, Ky. (WYMT/Gray News) - A Kentucky family is remembering a 19-year-old man who died after he was electrocuted while working as a lineman.

Bryson Cottongim, a 19-year-old lineman, was electrocuted Tuesday while installing fiber cable from a bucket truck in Harlan County. He started the job only a few weeks before the tragedy.

Cottongim was a Clay County native described by family as a country boy. His cousin, Martin “Payton” Howard, says he was there when Cottongim was born and watched him grow up to be a great young man.

“He was 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.”

While Cottongim loved spending time outdoors, Howard says something he treasured even more was 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.”

Howard says Cottongim stayed close to his family and was the kind of young man who would call just to check in and have a laugh.

“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 says he will miss those phone calls and that it is hard to accept the loss.

“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 was held Monday.

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