The Nantahala River in North Carolina was the scene of a tragic foot entrapment. A 59 year-old man and his 14 year-old son were paddling a rented double duck when they hung up on a rock in the left side of Patton's Run. According to an account posted to the Carolina Canoe Club bulletin board by Wayne Dickert, The man jumped into the creek to free the boat. His leg became caught between the two-to-three foot diameter boulders that litter the riverbed here and he probably went under instantly. His son, who was in the bow facing downstream, saw nothing.
There were no other paddlers nearby to witness the event. Assuming that his father would meet him at the take-out the boy paddled downstream. Hundreds of people passed by during the next few hours without ever suspecting what happened. When the boy's father could not be found, a search began. His body was located quickly, and was easily recovered when the water was turned off.
