From time to time, we will recap accidents on our local lakes, which carry more significance than the general safety statistics we report. These are from local news sources.
Collision, death, Sept. 5, 2021: One woman is dead after a boating accident that happened on Lake Keowee near Fall Creek Landing. At 7:03 p.m. a speedboat and a pontoon boat collided on the lake while going in opposite directions. Paige Elizabeth Morrow, 26, among a party of family members on the pontoon boat, was pronounced dead at the scene.
Collisions are one of the leading causes of boating accidents leading to death by trauma or drowning. (Passagemaker Magazine)
Hit and run; injury, Sept. 4, 2021: One person was injured in a hit-and-run boating accident on Lake Hartwell. Two pontoon boats collided near Six & Twenty Creek on Lake Hartwell at 6 p.m. The operator of a pontoon boat was taken to AnMed and had surgery for a fractured arm. The operator of the other pontoon left the scene. For a hit-and-run, the operator, if apprehended, will face minimum charges of failure to render aid.
Drowning; no PFD, July 4, 2021: Armando Esteban Sanchez Martinez, 22, drowned in Lake Hartwell near the Big Oak day use area. Although witnesses recovered the man and performed CPR until EMS personnel took over, they were unable to revive the victim. According to the witnesses, Martinez could not swim and wasn’t wearing a life jacket when he went into the water and got separated from his group
Collision; hypothermia, Dec. 30, 2019: At approximately 12:20 p.m. a call came in about two bass boats colliding in Lake Hartwell between Twin Lakes and Oconee Point campgrounds. Oconee County Fire Rescue reported that a man was fishing when a boat hit his boat, knocking him into the water. The moving boat left the scene of the crash. The fisherman was able to reach shore. He was taken to a hospital by emergency medical services and was treated for hypothermia.
Collision, death, July 8, 2019: A 39-year-old man on a boating trip with his son died on Lake Hartwell after a boating accident just after 10 p.m. in the area of Eastanollee Creek. Brandon Dean Wilson was in a john boat with his 6-year-old son when their vessel was hit by a ski boat. The boy had on a life jacket at the time and was not hurt. He was pulled from the water by a passenger in the ski boat. Wilson, however, was later found dead in the water.
