Accident Database

Report ID# 116550

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Accident Description

Connecticut man dies after he’s thrown from raft on Dead River near The Forks

BY DAVID WARRENMORNING SENTINEL CITY EDITOR

Oct 5, 2022

Brian M. Breen, 57, was rafting with family and friends Saturday when a series of rapids first caused him to fall from the raft and then caused the raft to overturn, throwing about a half-dozen people into the water.

THE FORKS — A Connecticut man who was whitewater rafting last weekend with family and friends died after he was thrown from his raft when it entered rapids along the Dead River, a spokesman for the state Department of Inland Fisheries & Wildlife said Wednesday.

The raft, operated by Magic Falls Rafting Co., was moving down the river Saturday afternoon with seven people on board when it came upon the Big Poplar Rapid, Inland Fisheries & Wildlife spokesman Mark Latti said in a statement. Big Poplar Rapid is part of Poplar Hill Falls in Somerset County.

Brian M. Breen, 57, of East Hartford, was thrown from the raft along with a second person in the rapids. As the guide was working to get both back in the raft, the craft hit more whitewater that caused the raft to flip over, throwing everyone in the water, Latti said.

People in other nearby rafts helped to pull the group from the water but Breen was unresponsive. CPR was administered on a raft as it was guided to meet emergency medical personnel on Route 201 in The Forks, but Breen died during the ordeal, Latti said. His body was taken to Giberson Funeral Home in Bingham.

Latti said the Office of Chief Medical Examiner has not determined a cause of death. A woman who answered the phone Wednesday at Magic Falls Rafting said the owners were out of town and not available to speak.

 

From Chris Santos - Statement to Maine Fish and Wildlife Game Wardens

On Saturday October 1st, I assisted in a fatal accident involving Magic fFlls rafting company. The level was 6500+CFS. I was trip leading for North Country Rivers and was the lead boat of 5 boats. As my pod approaches big poplar, I usually like to have my trips pull over at the canoe portage and regroup. However, that day magic falls was at the canoe portage and northern had eddied out on river right. But I had 4 experienced guides with me and we had good spacing so I decided that we would go through and run the poplars.

In Big Poplar about halfway down on river left there is a small eddy that as lead boat I like to try to catch, reason being if someone is swimming that rapid, they usually come down the left side of the rapid and I can cut their swim in half from that position. My trip had passed me, and everything was clear on our trip so I got ready to ferry out of the eddy and continue downstream. I noticed Magic Falls coming through the rapids up stream. I watched for a few seconds to make sure their trip was good, and I had time to peel out of the eddy as to not cut them off. I saw most of their boats enter the rapid ad it all looked good, so I ferried out and as soon as I finished my ferry, I turned around just in time to see one of the magic boats flips. I immediately blew my whistle. It didn’t look like anyone from magics trip acknowledged my whistle so I had my crew eddy out again and wait for the boat to come down so we could help in the rescue.

As the boats approached me, one Magic boat passed me, another was against the upside-down raft and there was another behind the flipped over raft. I was about to help but looked to the center of the river where I saw another magic boat but immediately knew something wasn’t right in it due to the position of the guide and the passengers. I saw that CPR was in progress and knew I had to get to that boat. The guide of that boat being Greg Hudzina; him and I have worked together for years and also have been on several medical situations and we work very well in those situations together. As I started my ferry across the river to Greg’s boat I yelled to magics trip leader to get that boat flipped back over and that CPR was in progress. I also gave the emergency/ first aid sign to the boat that first passed me and yelled that he paddle ahead and call 911 but that guide just eddied out.

I got to Greg’s boat and took off my flip line and clipped our boats together and immediately jumped in the back of the boat and took control telling the right side of Greg’s boat and the left side of my boat to go all back and back ferry across the river to where I know there is a camp site right at the end of big poplar. Having someone to perform CPR while someone else guides the boat is crucial doing both tasks in near impossible unless you have someone in your boat to do CPR while you guide. As we approached the campsite, I yelled to the people there to move their boats and call 911. I yelled call 911 again get me a back board and back a truck up here now. Now more people are starting to get involved and everyone was talking and Greg said one person take charge, so I did. And determined we need to get him on land for better compressions. I got everyone on his body and gave a 3 count and we lifted him from the raft onto the group where I instantly continued doing compressions.

Every time I pumped his chest it felt effective, but water would come out. Greg and I kept swapping rounds of compressions until Kyle backed his jeep up and said we need to get him out of here. So once again we counted to 3 and lifted him into the truck where Greg, and another person continued CPR as they drove away. I stayed a couple more minutes and try to console the family who was there crying. I eventually had to leave so I gathered my crew and we continued to take out. Greg and I debriefed later that day and he said that the guide lost 2 people at the top waves in big poplar. Now if you lose someone there if is very difficult to get them back in time and if you do not continue actively paddling there is a very powerful hydraulic on river left (fryolator/unemployment) which is like a tractor beam and where the majority of the water in the rapid is flowing. I do think the victim was one of the first two people to fall out before the flip it is a long swim nut there was no word he got stuck under the raft or recirculated in any holes. I do also think the situation could’ve been bettered by having a back board and AED at that campsite.

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