On June 28th, 2013 at approximately 9:00 AM, (father) and (son), rented a raft (IL9883RB) from Vermillion River Rafting (VRR). They set out on the Vermilion River from this point. VRR gave a safety briefing prior to departure, advising to use caution around Wildcat Rapid and to stay to the right when navigating through the canoe by-pass of the Buzzi Unicem Dam. 

At approximately 12:20 PM, Operator and Occupant approached the Buzzi Unicem Dam in Oglesby. Operator attempted to navigate the raft river right through the canoe by-pass. When they went through the by-pass, they were not far enough right to avoid becoming drawn into the downstream face of the dam by the current, which swirled and circulated back towards the dam.   According to Operator'' statement, he did not know he needed to be to the far right side of the dam. VRR did not show him any pictures of the dam or give an instructional video showing to stay to the right. Operator and Occupant were stuck against the face of the dam for approximately 40 minutes, hanging onto the raft as it was being filled with water running over the dam as the current kept it against the downstream face of the dam.  Operator told me the raft felt as if it was being pulled down into the water and was half submerged.  

As they hung onto the raft, four juvenile male noticed Operator and Occupant at approximately 1:00 p.m.  The subjects paddled through the by-pass and back upstream to Operator'' raft, which remained against the downside face of the dam. The subjects transferred Occupant to their raft (IL7827RB) and while doing so, also became drawn into the downstream face of the dam by the current.  After about 5 minutes, Operator'' raft became dislodged from the current and drifted downstream, while the other raft remained stuck against the dam by the current.  Operator found his way to shore and went to the Buzzi Unicem Office and called 911. The raft remained against the dam with the four subjects and Occupant for about 20 minutes.

While Operator was calling 911, two people were kayaking above the dam and noticed the raft against the face of the dam. The two beached their kayaks upstream of the dam and retrieved a throw rope they had brought with them.  They threw the rope to the subjects in the raft and were able to pull the raft out of the dam; successfully rescuing the 5 occupants.  

Conclusion:  Operator and Occupant became lodged against the downstream face of the dam by current when they failed to stay far enough to the right navigating through the canoe by-pass of the dam. A rescue attempt by a second raft containing 4 juvenile males was successful in transferring one occupant from the first raft, which was partially submerged. However, the second raft also became trapped in the current against the dam.  Eventually, the first raft containing Operator became dislodged and floated downstream where Operator was able to go ashore for help.  Meanwhile, nearby kayakers were able to rescue the 5 subjects from the second raft after throwing a rope to them and pulling them from the current.  Occupant was exposed to cold water flowing over the dam and into the raft for an extended period of time.  He was treated on scene for mild hypothermia and released.
Oglesby