On March 25, 2021 John Quigley, Heather Quigley, Craig Quigley and I met to paddle the Nolichucky Gorge. Craig was in town visiting his son John and his wife Heather and John asked me if I’d like to accompany the three of them down the gorge. Craig was in his 60s and had been paddling for over 20 years on rivers of comparable or greater difficulty. He was a proficient class IV- paddler and had kayaked the Nolichucky ~10 times at levels varying from 1200-3500 CFS. The level was around 1600, a good medium flow.
The incident occurred about 1/3 of the way through Quarter Mile rapid (the longest and most difficult rapid on the river). The group caught the river right eddy above block rock, and ferried above the hazard. Craig ferried successfully across the river and caught an edge in slack water below block rock. He flipped, and after several unsuccessful roll attempts, swam out of his boat. John and I reached him quickly and we instructed Craig to grab my stern because I was paddling a higher volume, more stable creek boat.
I towed Craig to river left, instructing him to assist by kicking, which he did, and brought him to the eddy above Copper Rock. At this point I told him to swim into the eddy and one or two strokes would have placed him safely in the eddy. Craig made no attempt to do so, however, and subsequently we washed into the slot to the left of Copper rock and he disconnected from my boat. As I pursued Craig he showed no self rescue behavior and went face down in the current.
At this point I exited my boat, swam to Craig, turned him to a face up position and quickly towed him to shore. John and I laid him on stable ground, removed his PFD and began CPR, rotating compressions and rescue breaths between us. Heather ran up the tracks to make contact with some railroad workers who called EMS. First responders arrived approximately 45 minutes to 1 hour after the accident at which point we made the decision to stop CPR. We secured Craig to a litter and carried him up the steep bank to the railroad tracks with the help of a winch mounted to the front of an ATV. His body was subsequently transported out on the back of the ATV via the tracks.
Our assessment is that Craig likely either had a heart attack during his swim or flush drowned. Craig was a tremendous individual who was deeply loved by his family and friends and will be greatly missed. We would like to thank the CSX railroad crew and first responders for their assistance.
Scott Fisher
