On 9/3/11, at approximately 5:00pm, i was working dove hunting around western cherokee county with officer.  A sheriff's deputy told us that they had gotten a call about a boating accident that had happened on hiwassee lake.  The deputy said that an injured girl was being transported to the hospital with a head inuury.  We drove to the murphy medical center in peachtree, nc to meet the involved persons.  At the hospital i took a report from the operator of the boat at the time of the accident and his daughter.  Operator stated that they were traveling between 10-20 mph in a straight line, while pulling victim on a tube down the lake toward their dock.  About 300-400 yards from the dock, he said his granddaughter, who was watching victim being towed, said that the tube had flipped over and victim had fallen out.  When they went to pick up victim, operator asked her if she wanted to ride again.  She said that she did, but she wanted to take a break for a while.  Operator said that when victim got into the boat he noticed that her pupils were very dialated.  At this point victim said that she might like to go back to the house.  She laid her head down on the boat seat until they pulled up to the dock.  When operator was tying the boat off, he looked at victim's eyes and they had returned to normal.  As the two girls got out of the boat, victim said that she felt dizzy.  When operator's granddaughter went over to her, victim started to sway and get lightheaded.  As grandmother grabbed hold of her, victim passed out and slid from between grandmother’s arms and fell into the water between the boat and the dock.  The grandmother then screamed for her grandfather to help.  He and his daughter came to help the grandmother pull victim back onto the dock where she had labored breathing but had regained conciousness.  The familythen called 911 for an ambulance to take victim to the hospital.  Victim was the only person injured when she fell off the tube.  No drugs or alcohol contributed to the accident.  Victim was wearing a type iii lifejacket during the time of the accident.  All required safety equipment was onboard the vessel.  No charges were filed against the owner/operator because there didn't seem to be any negligent behavior, nor were there any laws broken.
MURPHY                        