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Accident Database: Accident #2667
| River: | Clackamas |
| Section: | 5. River Mill Dam to Willamette River |
| Location: | |
| Gauge: | |
| Water Level: | High |
| Difficulty: | II |
| Accident Code(s): | Equipment trap |
| Age: | 11 |
| Experienced/Inexperienced: | Inexperienced |
| Years Paddling: | |
| Private/Commercial: | Private |
| Boat Type: | Open Canoe |
| Boat Manufacturer: | |
| Boat Model: | |
| Number of Occupants: | 2 |
| Number in Group: | 0 |
| Number of Victims: | 1 |
| Other Victim Names: | |
| Hazard Codes: | |
| Initial Report: | Portland Oregonian
Saturday, 11-year-old Terry and a Scout leader in the boat with him had tipped over just under a bridge. The drama unfolded in front of the three American Medical Response lifeguards, who monitor the area from Memorial Day to Labor Day. The adult rode the swamped canoe down as it sank on its way past the lifeguard station and was pulled from the water by the rescuers. But Terry, a tow-headed sixth-grader, had vanished beneath the surging green waters 20 feet from shore.
As Richards and his crew raced upstream, another group that included paramedic Scott Brawner of Tualatin Valley Fire &Rescue was ahead of them. The TVF&R crew was already at work the last place Terry had been seen. They lowered an underwater camera beneath the waves and spotted the
boy's body within minutes. Richards continued on to the scene, anyway, to help retrieve the body.
Wrapped around Finn's wrist was the rope from a throw bag, a rescue device he apparently grabbed as the boat went over. Brawner believes Terry might have grabbed the rope and bag in an attempt to save his boatmate. "I'm sure the whole time he thought he was going to save somebody else," said Brawner, the father of an 11-year-old boy himself.
The safety line -- which is 50 feet long with a weighted bag at the end was looped around Terry's wrist at one end and trapped underwater, on a limb or rock, at the other.
A device intended to save a swimmer in distress had trapped the boy six feet below the surface in water 10 feet deep. The Clackamas County medical examiner said Tuesday that the official cause of death was accidental drowning. It was a fluke accident, Richards and Brawner agreed. Even with the proper equipment, a boy died. Rescuers eventually untangled Finn from the line and pulled him onto a boat. When they rolled the boy over, Brawner said he was shocked. "He had the face of an angel." |
| Summary: | Tom/Charlie,
I did speak with the writer of the Oregonian after the first story came out reading; Clackamas County Sheriff's media relations officer said "No amount of experience or type of floatation could have prevented this accident."
I told the writer that with the proper training, skills and judgement it would be easily possible to successfuly negotiate this section of whitewater (I floated a 10 mile section just upstream with a 10 year old girl in a Jackson fun 1 the following day.
Most of what I have learned has been from Oregonian articles.
It later came out that a throwbag was deployed from another canoe once the original canoe capsized. The rope was then released by the original rescuer in the rescue canoe. The rope got tangled around the victims wrist, while the other end got chaulked and or tangled on a rock or debris. The rope shockloaded and trapped the victim about 6 feet under the water - (the River was 10 feet deep).
Definately throwbag error and bad luck. I believe proper training amd planning could have gone a long way in mitigating this accident. |
| Detailed Description: | |
| Conclusions: | |
| Link: | |
| Report Status: | On Going |
