Accident Database

Report ID# 2757

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Date

Victim

Victim Age

River

Section

Location

Gage

Water Level

River Difficulty

Cause

Cause Code(s)

Health Problem

Injury Type(s)

Heart Attack / Heart Failure

Factors

Cold Water
High Water

Trip Type

Boat Type

Group Info

Other Victim Names

Status

Accident Description

Autopsy: Va. man died of heart attack after raft accident

Associated Press - June 20, 2008 6:35 AM ET

SALIDA, Colo. (AP) - An autopsy has determined that a Virginia man died of a heart attack after a raft overturned on the Arkansas River in Colorado. Chaffee County authorities say 67-year-old Oscar Stevenson of Eastville, Virginia, was thrown into the water near Buena Vista while on a commercial rafting trip on Tuesday. Information from: Rocky Mountain News, http://www.insidedenver.com/ Copyright 2008 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.

http://www.krdo.com/global/story.asp?s=8517926

Virginia man dies on Colorado rafting trip

June 18, 2008 - 1:01pm

SALIDA, Colo. - A Virginia man died after a rafting accident on the Arkansas River near Buena Vista. Chaffee County Sheriff Tim Walker says 67-year-old Oscar Stevenson III of Eastville, Va., was on a commercial rafting trip Tuesday when his raft overturned at a spot known as Pinball Rapids.

Stevenson was thrown into the water, but a raft guide and other rafters pulled him ashore.

His rescuers performed CPR on Stevenson until emergency crews arrived, but he was pronounced dead at the scene. Walker says Stevenson likely suffered a heart attack and stopped breathing. An autopsy is planned. Buena Vista is about 95 miles southwest of Denver.