At approximately 1715 hrs on August 23, 2023, Injured was being towed on a Airhead tube by a 2017 Yamaha Waverunner EX that was operated by Operator and a Passenger was onboard as the acting spotter. Injured was thrown from the tube while traveling between 42-43 mph and hit her head on the water upon impact. Injured was able to get back on the tube with no assistance. Injured rode on the tube for approximately ten minutes, then switched out with Passenger as the spotter for another ten minutes. However, once Injured arrived back to the shoreline and sat down on the beach, she started complaining of a headache and neck pain. This was soon followed with losing feeling of the left side of her body. During evaluations by Deputy to confirm any numbness in her extremities, Injured noted she lost feeling in her right arm too. Injured was taken by LIFESTAR to Kansas University Medical Hospital in Kansas City for a potential cervical spine injury. Injured was released from the hospital on August 25, 2023 and was diagnosed with a traumatic head injury, due to the fall. During an interview with Injured, she stated that Operator started to pull the tube before she even had a chance to fully buckle her life jacket and that she attempted to get him to slow down or stop while being pulled. However, interviews with Operator and Passenger, they both stated that they never saw or heard Injured trying to get them to slow down or stop. I asked Passenger if at any point that she felt like Operator was operating the personal watercraft in a reckless manner or going too fast, and she said no.
Tuttle Creek
Olsburg                       