Accident Summary from North Country Rivers, Bingham, ME Due to the fact that the victim was immediately unresponsive, I assume there was a pre-existing medical issue. Dead River – May 14, 2016 – 7000 CFS North Country Rivers commercial rafting trip – 44 commercial guests, 6 guides in training, 9 licensed Registered Maine guides. 8 rafts. All guests had full wetsuits, booties, splash jackets, type 5 life jackets and helmets. Guides had either dry suits or full wetsuit gear. The trip was pulled over to rest (10-15 minutes) prior to entering Upper and Lower Poplar. Air temperature – 74 degrees, water temp was upper 40’s. NCR trip of 8 guided rafts entered Lower Poplar, the rafts were running tight for safety, visual contact was made with 2-3 rafts in front and behind each raft. Raft #6 dump trucked all 6 guests, the guide stayed in the raft. The dump truck occurred 50-100 yards above and right of “fryolator” – large recirculating hole on the left side of the river. The raft and all guests stayed right and avoided “fryolator”. The guide immediately, within seconds of the dump, extended his paddle to the victim, tapped him on the shoulder and told him to grab the paddle. The victim was unresponsive. The victim was 52 years old.The trip leader saw the raft and swimmers, he alerted all guides with a whistle blast three times. All rafts downstream of the swimmers initiated rescue. 5 customers were pulled in by one raft. The sixth customer was pulled in by raft #2. CPR was initiated immediately, in the raft, by the guide and two customers with advanced EMT training. Two other rafts towed the rescue raft to shore while the CPR continued. The victim was moved to shore, CPR continued throughout. Approximate time the victim was in the water ranged from 1-3 minutes based on statements of the guides. Two major medical kits were delivered to the rescuers on shore from raft #4 and raft #8, my raft. CPR continued. 4 guides and two customer (EMT trained continued CPR) A fisherman with a truck assisted, the victim was transported to the fisherman’s truck and evacuated to Magic Falls Rafting Companies base. 3 guides and one EMT continued CPR while the trip leader jumped in the cab of the truck and assisted the fisherman with navigation to the Magic Falls Rafting Site. He communicated with and calmed the driver. During the initial CPR on shore, I contacted EMS via cell phone, described the situation (unresponsive victim in his 50’s, CPR initiated) and requested an ambulance and assistance. Thank you, Jim Murton North Country Rivers 800.348.8871 Lexington man killed while rafting remembered as a ‘rock’ of a man Maine’s Office of Chief Medical Examiner said Wednesday that 52-year-old Michael Arena drowned after falling out of a raft last Saturday. Arena had been chaperoning his son’s Boy Scout troop on the trip for the weekend. Arena’s wife of 25 years, Kristine, praised him on Facebook, saying, “I am very grateful for the wonderful life Michael and I created and lived together.” A death notice recalled Arena’s “sly social commentaries and loyal friendships. He took great delight in his vibrant and large extended Italian family.” In addition to his wife, he leaves two sons, David and Andrew. His family noted that Arena was a skier and sailor and was well known in Lexington as a soccer and Little League coach. The death notice said was a member of Hancock Church in Lexington. He served on the church’s Prudential Committee and was part of the congregation’s hand bell choir. In a statement, Troop 160 Scout Master Hank Manz said the tragedy has weighed heavily on town residents: “We are all, of course, deeply saddened by this event. Our thoughts and prayers are with the Arena family. . . . We are also concerned about the effects on all those who were part of the event and all families involved in scouting in Lexington.” Arena, who grew up in Marblehead, received his bachelor’s degree from Princeton University and earned a master’s while studying computer science at Harvard. He was a software architect at Paytronix in Newton and previously worked at Lightbridge in Burlington. Andrew Robbins, the president of Paytronix, met Arena 34 years ago, when the two were students at Princeton. “Some people would say that he was the rock or the backbone of our company,” said Robbins, who described Arena as a brilliant, soft-spoken software architect who led by example. “No matter how tough things got he would be calm and reserved and would build people’s confidence.” The Maine Warden Service said Arena went whitewater rafting Saturday with four scouts, a guide, and another chaperone in West Forks Plantation, a rural community 245 miles from Boston. Around 2 p.m., on the Dead River, Arena fell from the raft into the swift current. Paramedics pronounced Arena dead at the scene, according to the Warden Service. Arena and the Boy Scouts were on a commercial rafting trip run by North Country Rivers. The company did not respond to an interview request. Steven A. Rosenberg can be reached at srosenberg@globe.com.