RedactedNarrative: Over Memorial Day weekend of 2021, the town of Bigfork hosted the 46th annual Bigfork Whitewater Festival. Hundreds of kayakers from all over the country experienced this year’s festival during the highest flows in recent memory. 
  
  On May 28, 2021 the stream flow of the swan river at Bigfork was approximately 6000cfs. The 99 year average for that date was approximately 3200cfs.  
  
  At approximately 1845 hours on that date, the operator of the kayak had just gone through a major rapid upstream before she flipped her kayak over and it appears that she struck her head on a rock under the water, and she was knocked unconscious.  The operator floated face down into a logjam, still in her kayak. Her party was able to extricate her from the logjam, but she slipped out of her kayak and continued to float downstream,  face down. Other bystanders ran downstream to her, but they were unable to retrieve her from the water.  She continued drifting into the Bigfork Bay, where a stand-up paddle boarder brought her to shore at approximately 1851 hours.  
  
  The kayaker was not breathing following the rescue, but providers recovered her pulse with chest compressions.  She was flown by ALERT to hospital at approximately 1921 hours. She was in coma and kept on life support until June 13th.  She passed away on June 14th.
  
  According to witnesses, the operator of the kayak was wearing a PFD and a helmet at the time of the accident.  She was a very experienced kayaker and had floated this section of river a lot of times. It is unknown if she floated this section at this high of flow.
  