On Saturday, September 8th at approximately 3:30 PM, operator, along with his two grandsons and his four friends, was operating his 2005 model, 24 foot VIP deck boat near the area of Cranes Mill Park and the mouth of the Guadalupe River on Canyon Lake, public water, in Comal County, Texas when an accident occurred that injured Friend2.  At approximately 5:00 PM, Comal County Game Warden was called to the scene to investigate the incident.  The following information was obtained during his investigation. 

According to the witnesses , Friend1 was positioned on the left, Grandson1 was in the center, and Friend2 was on the right side of the tube as they were being towed at approximately 20 mph behind the boat.  After approximately 5-10 minutes of riding, somehow their tube impacted the boat’s wake, or possibly another boat’s wake which caused Friend1 to fall off.  Off balance, the tube caught air on the side Friend1 was on and then flipped over throwing Friend2 and Grandson1 into the water.  Friend2 impacted the water face first.  When she resurfaced, Friend2 was lying face up and she was in severe pain.  Unable to move on her own, Friend2 called Friend1 over to assist her.  With Friend1 and operator’s help, Friend2 was pulled from the water and she was transported to the public boat ramp at Potter’s Creek.  EMS was contacted and arrived on scene and transported her by Airlife to University Hospital in San Antonio, Texas for her injuries.  Following the accident, U.S. Corp of Engineers Rangers responded to the scene and secured it until Game Warden arrived.  

Upon completing his investigation, Warden concluded that lifejackets were worn by all those on the tube during the accident.  He concluded that alcohol was not a contributing factor to the accident.  In addition to the tubers wearing their life jackets, the boat was equipped with all of the appropriate water safety equipment and it was currently registered as per state law.  No citations were issued to the operator or any of the passengers.

STARTZVILLE                   