| Injury Code(s): | Fatal, Fatal, Fatal, Fatal, Fatal, Fatal, Fatal, Fatal, Fatal, Fatal, Fatal, Fatal |
| Summary: | It's a little known fact that hikers and picnickers, not paddlers, are the most likely accident victims at riverside parks. Thus, the two wading deaths occurring on well-known whitewater rivers this past summer are worthy of note. The Class III Saluda River in Columbia, SC rises quickly when the SCE&G power dam upstream releases, and people often become stranded. On July 22nd a woman was trapped on a midstream rock by rising water. The Columbia, SC State reported that 21 year-old Brian Shealy entered the river with two other men to assist her. The woman got ashore fine, but Mr. Shealy wedged his foot in a crack, lost his balance, and was pushed under water. In another incident, the National Park Service Morning Report for August 4th stated that Babu Gurusbrami, 27, lost his footing and was swept away while wading in the Class I-II Chattahoochee River near Atlanta, Georgia. Search teams found his body several days later. Both events received considerable coverage in the media. |
