Accident Database

Report ID# 1116

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  • Caught in a Natural Hydraulic
  • Near Drowning
  • Other

Accident Description

A NEAR DROWNING ON THE UPPER GAULEY

            The victim was a kayaker who was tagging along with a group of squirt boaters from Philadelphia . On October 16, 1994, trouble struck at the second drop of Lost Paddle. The victim flipped and bailed out. He probably recirculated in a hole in the third drop before being pulled out just above drop #4 –Tumblehome. There was no breathing or pulse, so his companions started CPR. He came to in minutes, talking lucidly, very anoxic, complaining of back pain. A raft company arrived and called a helicopter, which evacuated the victim to a local hospital. He stayed there for almost a week before being released.  

SOURCE: Tom O’Neill

EDITOR’S NOTE: Pulling an unconscious person to shore in a squirt boat must have been a tough rescue! Congratulations!  

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