Man dies trying to rescue capsized
boaters
By Abby Morris
star staff
amorris@starhq.com
A 74-year-old Virginia man lost his life Tuesday
afternoon after he attempted to rescue two men whose boat
had capsized in Watauga Lake in the area of Lakeshore Marina.
According to officials with the Tennessee Wildlife
Resources Agency, two men, whose names and ages were not released,
had been operating a sailboat on Watauga Lake when the boat
overturned on them and dumped them in the water and Keith
Speer, 74, of Damascus, Va., attempted to rescue them. "It
appears that a vessel was attempting to give aid to the overturned
vessel when the operator of the second vessel (Speer) apparently
fell overboard," said TWRA Wildlife Officer George Birdwell.
Other boats which had been operating in the area
saw the accident and were able to locate the two men who had
been on the capsized sailboat and return them to the Marina
as well as pull Speer from the water and transport him to
the Marina as well, according to TWRA Wildlife Officer Dennis
Ward. "Boaters brought them out of the water and to here (Lakeshore
Marina) and then the Carter County Rescue Squad transported
him to the hospital," Ward said of Speer.
According to radio transmissions from the 911
Communications Center, one of the male subjects, later identified
as Speer, was unresponsive when other boaters pulled him from
the water. Birdwell confirmed that information. "He (Speer)
was unconscious when they brought him in," Birdwell said.
Speer was later pronounced dead at the Johnson
City Medical Center and his family was notified of the accident,
according to Ward.
Birdwell stated that Speer had not been wearing
a personal floatation device (lifejacket) at the time of the
accident but that the two boaters he had been attempting to
rescue had been wearing PFDs.
The TWRA is still investigating the cause of both
accidents.
Members of the Carter County Rescue Squad and
Hampton-Valley Forge Volunteer Fire Department also responded
to the scene and assisted in the rescue.
