Apparently, a drunk raft guide/kayaker in a playboat ran the middle (which is bad) with about a quarter the flow it should have with no safety… and tore something in his neck and broke his back in like 3 places and depended on professional rescue for recorvery… and is proud of it according some sources that know him.
Honestly, we put a lot of time and energy and safety into running big waterfalls and occasionally we make headway into educating the public and authorities that we know what we’re doing and it should be okay…. and then someone does this. It p*sses me off honestly.
Btw, I was there to run it the Dane and Nick were ticketed but just too much heat at the time for me with my teaching career… so I do know the proper lines, protocols, safety points, hazards, etc with this one. Jar didn’t follow any of them.
He is still up[ in the trauma unit at UK. Boyd was correct in that he has 3 broken vertebrae and a torn ligament in his neck. He has been fitted with a customer back brace in hopes of avoiding surgery. But with the back brace, he is up and moving around. So, ok but not great.
From Dania Egedi: JR has guided for me on and off for the last 11 years. Currently off as of about 2 weeks ago. He is a veteran (Iraq) and has been struggling with various demons over the years. Boyd is correct that he was drunk when he went over. He had apparently been wave surfing at a wave well above the Falls before he apparently decided to run the Falls. It was a little before dark. He was in his playboat. Ppl saw him run it and I have seen a grainy video. He was out of his boat. hanging onto a mostly submerged rock when a local fisherman that was already down there fishing paddled over in his johnboat. JR was able to cling to the side of the boat and the fisherman paddled him to the beach below the Falls. Reports that the first thing he did once we flopped over onto the beach was to have a cigarette. Totally believable. There was apparently a 2nd bystander that also helped, but I am not sure of the role that person played. Local rescue squad responded, as did several of my staff and former guides, including myself. It is misinformation that he was with a group of kayakers that were able to stop and he was not. It was definitely intentional. The confusion may be because we had carried a duckie down to the beach for a rescue as needed. JR had been talking about running the Falls for a while and even tried to put together a safety team at one point, but it would appear that the decision to run it on Friday was spur of the moment. He was wearing his helmet and PFD. The water was not at a good level (too low) for it to be a good run.
He has 3 broken vertebrae and a torn ligament in his neck. He has been fitted with a custom back brace in hopes of avoiding surgery. But with the back brace, he is up and moving around. So, ok but not great.
