On April 26, 2026, at approximately 1200 hours, I was at Staging Eddy on the Ocoee, R1’ing, when someone alerted me that there was a swimmer on a SPUD. We knew the individual to be an experienced whitewater guide on the Ocoee. He floated by in Staging Eddy with his head upright and hands on his paddle and SPUD, but he was making no effort to get to the eddy. Later reports from other boaters stated he had swum at Grumpy’s Ledge, attempted to self-rescue unsuccessfully, and was washed back off the SPUD at North Shore.
Once he passed Staging Eddy, multiple boaters recognized he was not okay and pursued. An R2 picked him up river left, downstream approximately 75 yards from Staging Eddy, where the river widens at the entrance to Gonzo Shoals. I pursued in my raft and asked another boater if he was okay. They stated he was not responding completely. I made it to the R2 raft ( RMR Storm), jumped in, and stopped their raft. They had already started CPR. The patient was unresponsive and pulseless.
We removed his PFD and helmet and deflated the thwarts in the raft. I provided a CPR mask from my PFD that was used. While performing CPR, other rafters and boaters arrived and gathered around. I instructed some to call 911, while others went river right to access the road and make contact with EMS. While three of us administered BLS, a group of about six boaters walked the raft approximately 80 yards to the river right bank thru the current. Water was 1-5 feet deep for this walk.
Once at the bank, we pulled the raft onto shore. Rangers arrived on the road above and provided an AED, which was attached to the patient. The raft was then dragged to the bottom of the road embankment. A rope was attached, and the raft was hauled up to the road with assistance from others. CPR continued during this movement.
Once on the roadway, the patient was moved from the raft onto a backboard, and BLS continued with the addition of a BVM. EMS arrived, and I gave a brief report, stating the patient had been in the water for a short time and CPR had been in progress for approximately 15 minutes. EMS then transported the patient to the hospital.
Water Level was normal, It was sunny and warm outside. The boaters experience ( Raft guide on ocoee for over a decade) and being known the others possibly contributed to a delay in rescue effort, though this delay was less then 30 seconds. Despite all the best efforts of all on the scene the Man lost his life.
Cleveland man falls out of raft in the Ocoee River, dies at hospital Sunday afternoon
by WTVC News Channel 9 Chattanooga TN
Sun, April 26, 2026
POLK COUNTY, Tenn. — A man from Cleveland has died in the hospital after he fell out of a raft on the Ocoee River Sunday, according to the Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency.TWRA Game Wardens and Tennessee State Park Rangers say they were called to a recreation area just south of Ocoee Dam Number 2 in Polk County around 1:30 Sunday afternoon. Witnesses there said they saw the man fall out of a raft he was paddling in.
The man has been identified as Richard White from Cleveland. The witnesses said White was wearing a helmet and a personal floatation device. TWRA says other people in the area were able to pull White out of the water and start CPR as they waited for responders to get there. White was taken to the Bradley Medical Center, and was pronounced dead. TWRA says this as the 6th boating death in the state so far this year.
From Scott Mantooth -0 Richard White (50) also called Dickie Blanco … was paddling his spud raft …..got tossed out either at Grumpy’s or just below … he self-rescued … got his paddle and got back in his boat ….. apparently, someone noticed he was not moving and they found him unresponsive sitting in the spud. CPR was performed and a pulse was detectable, but he died in route to the hospital during transport. Nothing official but is suspected he suffered a massive coronary. I’ll update you if I hear more details.
From Justin Cullars – I got on scene as he was pulled into the RMR. I tried to call 911 and the head ranger but thats a bad spot for service. Through river signals we allerted people up stream to go to the road and send for help. I don’t know how word actually got to the rangers though. I knew we needed to get him to the road asap and got that going. I would have guessed there were at least 8 of us involved in moving the raft to the road.
There were guides from several outfitters involved (including myself) who understood what needed to happen and everyone jumped into action. Those not directly hands on, set safety, hauled the raft up the 20ft embankment, etc. We even made a human shield to detur drivers gawking. The whole thing must have involved 20 river people. 5-10 of us must have helped with CPR alone. The ranger got there within minutes of us getting him to the bank. I got his AED and passed ot down to those working on the subject. It was applied but couldn’t detect anything so it wouldn’t fire. The same thing on the road during CPR before EMS showed. Everyone involved should be commended on the tremendous amount of effort and coordination put forth. I was leading a training raft and doing drills at staging eddy and he must have passed us but I didn’t notice anything particularly out of the ordinary until we were heading downstream and heard the whistle blasts.