On July 18, 2009 Operator 1 and passenger1 drove to Passenger 1's property  to go fishing at a farm pond. Passenger 1 is a paraplegic and in a wheelchair. Operator 1said that this was the fourth time he had brought Passenger 1 out to fish at the pond.
Operator 1 loaded Passenger 1 onto a 12' x 4' Hilltop Pontoon boat by using a cement slab and a metal ramp. Operator 1and Passenger 1 started fishing at approximately 5:30 pm. Operator 1said that he had only operated this boat four time and no other boat. Operator 1was wearing his PFD because he did not know how to swim. Passenger 1 would not wear a PFD. Operator 1said that there was no alcohol involved because neither of them drank.
They were anchored in the pond and decided to move to another location to continue fishing. Operator 1 looked at his watch and it showed 7:30 pm. As Operator 1leaned over to pull up the anchor he saw water coming into the boat and saw that Passenger 1 was also leaning over. The boat capsized dumping both men into the water. Operator 1said that Passenger 1 was approximately twenty feet away from the overturned boat trying to swim. Operator 1yelled at Passenger 1 to try and get a hold of the boat. Operator 1grabbed the anchor line to hold onto and tried to swim to shore using one arm.
Operator 1 saw that the wheelchair was lodged under the boat and kicked at it several times to dislodge it because he knew that it would be a drag on the boat. Operator 1said that he could not kick the wheelchair lose. Operator 1then looked for Passenger 1 and saw that he was face down in the water. Operator 1was wore out and stopped to rest, holding onto the line. Operator 1would swim, pulling the boat, stop and rest. Operator 1repeated this several times before he was able to touch the bottom of the pond with his feet. Operator 1then let go of the anchor rope and made it onto the north shore of the pond. Operator 1said that it took him almost a hour to get out of the water.
Operator 1walked across the dam to where the vehicle was parked. Operator 1's cell phone would not work because of being under water so long. Operator 1proceeded to drive the approximately ten (10) miles back to Johnson's General Store in Eureka where a clerk at 8:44 pm called E911 to report the accident. An ambulance transported Operator 1to the Greenwood County Hospital to be checked out. Operator 1said that Johnson's General Store was the only place he knew about.
The first rescue squad reached the pond at 8:59 pm . Passenger 1 was pulled from the pond at 9:22 pm. EMS personnel detected a pulse and CPR was started. Passenger 1 was transported to the Greenwood County Hospital where he was pronounced deceased at 10:07 pm.
Eureka                        