Accident Description
From: “brooke. “ To: Sent: Tuesday, September 19, 2000 2:36 PM Subject: [CCC] More on Yough accident Kayak victim dunked earlier Tuesday, September 19, 2000 By Lawrence Walsh, Post-Gazette Staff Writer The girl who drowned in the Youghiogheny River after her rented inflatable kayak capsized at Dimple Rock rapid fell out in an earlier rapid with her companion soon after the trip started. Jim Rhoades, the leader of the group of three two-person kayaks, said his daughter, Jennifer, and the victim, Andrea L. Yealy, both 16, first fell into the river shortly after noon Saturday when their kayak overturned in a rapid less than a mile downstream from Ohiopyle in Ohiopyle State Park in Fayette County. “They just climbed back in and kept going,†said Rhoades, 39, a veteran whitewater paddler who was in a kayak with another daughter, Becky, 13, a first-time paddler. Rhoades said he didn’t know where the girls capsized the first time because the kayak he and his daughter were in also overturned in the same stretch. “I’m not sure where we fell out, either, but it’s part of ‘The Loop,’†he said. The first mile of the river below Ohiopyle Falls is called “The Loop†because the river appears to loop back on itself as it flows around Ferncliff Peninsula. Because she had paddled a kayak before on the Youghiogheny, Jennifer Rhoades sat up front. Yealy, who had run the river in a six-person raft with a church youth group in June, followed her friend’s lead in using the blue and yellow paddles that propel the kayak. The girls were close friends. Yealy, of Littlestown, a small town near Gettysburg in Adams County, was the third person to die at Dimple Rock this summer. Yealy, the only child of Dave and Michele Yealy, was a junior at Delone Catholic High School in Littlestown. She was a swimmer who often could be found in the family’s above-ground swimming pool or in a nearby pond. She had been a cheerleader and had planned to try out for the cross-country team. She took her first whitewater trip on the Youghiogheny River in June with about 35 young members of her church, Gettysburg Presbyterian. The group stopped in Ohiopyle en route to helping to repair and paint the homes of underprivileged families in Hurricane, W.Va. Also paddling with the group was Rhoades’ brother-in-law, Jim Reichert, and his wife, Tonia, also from Littlestown. The Reicherts, both veteran whitewater paddlers, have run the river many times. Rhoades, a project manager for a book company, has been a whitewater paddler since 1987. He said he prefers the two-person inflatable kayaks because they are easier to maneuver than rafts on what is known as the Lower Yough, a 71/2-mile section of the river from Ohiopyle to Bruner Run. He and the others rented the kayaks and other equipment, including life jackets, helmets, double-bladed paddles and wet suits from Youghiogheny Outfitters, a professional rental company in Ohiopyle. “Jim has been here many times,†said Stuart Van Nosdeln, 64, who owns and operates Youghiogheny Outfitters. He said Yealy’s death was the first time a rental customer had drowned since he opened in 1974. Rhoades said his daughter Jennifer and Yealy followed him and his younger daughter down the river. The Reicharts paddled behind in what is known as the “sweep†position to provide assistance if needed. “Sweepers†retrieve capsized paddlers and their equipment. Rhoades said a commercial rafting company had just finished running Dimple Rock rapid when his group approached. The river, which is more than 200 feet wide in most places, is squeezed to the left at that point by what is known as an apron—a collection of earth and rocks dumped into the river centuries ago by a flooding Bear Run, the stream that flows past Fallingwater. The main current veers to the left and then heads straight for Dimple Rock, an Army tank-sized chunk of sandstone near the left shore. Paddlers must run it at an angle to the right to avoid hitting it. Rhoades said the back of his kayak struck Dimple Rock and it overturned. Father and daughter fell into the 66-degree water and surfaced next to each other about 20 feet away. The kayak was floating out of reach ahead of them in the swift-moving water. They were swept downstream about 100 yards before they were able to get to shore. Rhoades, who had never fallen out before at Dimple Rock, pushed his daughter into some quiet water behind a rock and found a similar spot about 50 feet downstream. When he looked upstream, he saw his daughter Jennifer and her kayak, but no sign of Yealy. He pulled Jennifer to shore. Jennifer said the girls’ kayak had gotten stuck on a rock on their approach to Dimple Rock and that the Reicharts passed them. When the two girls got their kayak off the rock, the current swept them directly toward the center of Dimple Rock. The kayak capsized, throwing Jennifer to the right and Yealy to the left. When Yealy couldn’t be found in the water or on the shoreline, Rhoades notified a nearby commercial rafting guide who had a radio in his turquoise kayak. Rhoades said help arrived about 15 minutes later. Although Yealy was wearing a life jacket, the current pushed her down and toward the left side of Dimple Rock. Rescuers, led by search dogs, later found Yealy’s body underwater under a ledge on the left side of Dimple Rock. She fell in about 2:30 p.m. Saturday. Her body was recovered about five feet below the surface about 10:30 a.m. Sunday. Dave and Michele Yealy praised the efforts of Wes Malenke, Randy Conn, Scott Downs and Mike Smithburger, all commercial rafting guides , and Randy Conn, a state park maintenance employee, for recovering their daughter’s body. In addition to praising state park personnel and local firefighters, they also asked that something be done to make Dimple Rock a less dangerous rapid. “My wife and I feel this tragedy was a sign that there must be something done so that someone else doesn’t have to through the pain we are feeling right now over the loss of our loved one,†Dave Yealy said. “We have never taken a whitewater trip, but our daughter and her friends really enjoyed the activity. I’m sure the trip down this river would be just as much fun without this dangerous area that has claimed the lives of other loved ones in the recent past. “We know she had a very firm belief in God and His word and that she is now with Him. I hope the life she has given wasn’t just another life lost for nothing.†Two other people died at Dimple Rock this summer. Stewart W. Hill, 63, of Andover, Ohio, fell out of a raft when it flipped at Dimple Rock on Sept. 7. Willie Pate, 46, of Cleveland, was paddling a two-person inflatable kayak when it capsized at Dimple Rock on June 27. Both men were wearing life jackets. from http://www.post-gazette.com/regionstate/20000919kayak4.asp Stan Shepp York, PA Center of the Universe stanshepp@mindspring.com ICQ # 18305161Dimple Rapid was the scene of three deaths during the 2000 season, making it the worst year on record for this popular Western Pennsylvania river. Less than ten days after the second, on September 16th a church group from Central Pennsylvania rented rafts and duckies for a trip down the river. At Dimple Rapid Andrea Yealy, 16, rammed Dimple Rock and flipped her rented double duck. Her partner washed free, but she disappeared. Her life vest bobbed to the surface shortly. Guides made an extensive search of the area, then radioed for help. Search dogs alerted in the vicinity of Dimple Rock. The river level was lowered overnight by the U.S. Corps of Engineers in Confluence, PA to aid in the search. The next morning her body was pulled from under the left side of Dimple Rock by veteran river guide Scott Downs. CW
