The subject was riding her PWC in Pirate Harbor on July 1, 2023.  She was traveling east when she struck a mangrove island. She and her PWC went up and over the mangrove island and landed back in the water.  The PWC came to final rest in the mangroves to the northeast of the island.   
On Monday, July 3, I went to Gulf Coast Trauma Center in Ft. Myers to interview OP1.  While there, I spoke with both her and her husband.  She told me, through a spanish language interpreter, the events of the day leading up to the crash.  OP1 said she had been riding on her son's PWC, which was more powerful than her own.  Her sister had been riding with her earlier, but had gotten off the PWC because she was scared.  
OP1 said that she was riding around the mangrove area and lost control of the PWC after she saw a sandbar.  She said the next thing she remembered was looking down and seeing blood and 2 men were helping her out of the water.
I asked OP1 if she had had any alcohol to drink that day and she said she had a small tumbler of alcohol in the morning.  
While at the hospital, the nursing staff informed me that they had drawn blood from OP1 when she came in to the emergency room on the day of the crash.  They told me her blood alcohol content was .18.  Due to this BAC, the investigation into this incident will be ongoing.;:OP1 had a laceration to her head, a broken arm and multiple contusions.

Pirate Cove
PUNTA GORDA                   