According to statements of those involved, on Monday, June 26, 2023, at approximately 3:39 PM two people were being pulled on a tube behind a rented pontoon boat.  The boat was being operated by subject1 and was occupied by three others and a dog.  

While the boat was pulling the tube it made some turns causing slack to occur in the tow rope.  Observing the slack in the rope and the distance that the boat was from them, Subject2 and Subject3 exited the tube.  

When they exited, the boat began to slow down, and Subject3’s left leg became entangled in the tow rope.  As the momentum of the boat continued, the slack was pulled out of the rope and it began to pull on Subject3’s leg.  This caused injuries to both her legs.  Subject3 was then assisted back to the boat as 911 was called.  

Once everyone had gotten back on the boat, the group then went to Blue Springs Marina where an individual then drove them to meet an ambulance.  Once Subject3 was in the ambulance, she was taken to meet a helicopter that flew her to the University of Tennessee Medical Center in Knoxville. 

According to statements from them and others involved, on Monday, June 26, 2023, the group was on the lake in a pontoon boat rented from Powell Valley Resort.  While out they explored the lake and also ate lunch.  The group also stopped at what they called the jumping rock where they jumped off of some rocks.  

After leaving the jumping rock, different people took turns riding on the tube while it was being pulled behind the rented pontoon boat.  At some point, Subject2 and Subject3 begin tubing together.  operator was driving the boat while Subject2 and Subject3 were being pulled.  While pulling Subject2 and Subject3, the boat made a left turn then a right turn, and then another left turn.  This caused there to be slack in the rope that was being used to tow the tube.  It also caused the boat to come closer to Subject2 and Subject3 than they felt that it should.  

Those involved gave varying estimations of the distance between the boat and the tube during this point.   Those estimations ranged from 10 yards to 12 yards, 15 yards to 20 yards, 25 yards, 25 yards, 50 feet, and 50 feet.  Subject2 and Subject3 also did not like that there was slack in the rope.  Subject2 stated that the distance of the boat from them is what made him aware of the slack in the rope and that he felt that they needed to get off the tube because it was going to hurt.  I asked Subject2 if he felt anything reckless had been done and he stated he felt that the situation was just a freak accident.  

Subject3 said that she may have also jumped from the tube because she did not like when the tube would jerk when the slack would be taken out of the rope.  However, both Subject2 and Subject3 exited the tube and Operator began decelerating the throttle of the boat.  When Subject3 exited the tube, her left leg became entangled in the tow rope and as the momentum of the boat continued, the slack was pulled from the rope.  

This caused the rope to pull Subject3 in the water for less than 10 seconds according to her estimation.  It also caused her to be pulled under the surface of the water for a short time.  As a result of the pulling of the rope, Subject3 received injuries to her legs.  She had a torn ACL in her right leg and a degloving injury and a broken fibula bone in her left leg.  Once Subject3 had stopped being pulled by the boat’s momentum, it became apparent that she was injured, Subject2 swam to her as did Operator and another subject both of whom had jumped off the boat to help her.  

NORRIS RESERVOIR
MAYNARDVILLE                  