A commercial rafting guest drowned on the New River Gorge on April 4th. The river was 15,000 and rising, a high level, but well below the commercial cutoff. It was a two boat trip with two kayak safety boaters, all guides were very experienced. A 14' raft with a family of four dump-trucked at the Mouth Wave in Middle Keaney. The guide and one guest stayed in the boat, but two others swam. As the guide worked to recover his swimming guests, they were pushed into the right side of Lower Keaney,where they hit a large hole and flipped. The safety boaters and the second raft recovered all the swimmers, but by the time the kayakers reached the father at the top of Dudley's Dip he was unresponsive. They held onto him through this short rapid, got him ashore, and attempted CPR. An autopsy is pending.
