Another Life Lost - No PFD

[jay_merrill]

At approximately 9am this morning, the body of a boater who had been missing since Friday afternoon, was found in a bayou near New Olreans. His boat was found about a half a mile away, on Saturday morning.

Although alcohol is believed to have been involved, there was no crash and it is not known how the person ended up in the water. He is believed to have stopped at an abandoned camp where the boat was found, to find some bricks to weigh down the front of it, because it was porposing. The fact of the matter, is that he may have simply fallen overboard while stationary.

At this point in time, the cause of death has not been determined, but there isn't any reason to believe that foul play or injury resulting in death occurred. In all probability, the person just drowned.

If this is so, the simple act of wearing a PFD might have prevented this tragedy. While it is easy and not unfair to blame this death on alcohol use, had the victim developed a habit of wearing his PFD, he might not have died.

I urge all of the very nice people that I have come to know in these forums to wear their PFDs. They do save lives.



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[skargo]

Re: Another Life Lost - No PFD

A sad loss, that could EASILY have been prevented.

 

[WAVENBYE2]

Re: Another Life Lost - No PFD

So you guys found him this morning. Well I agree on the PFD and we all have talked about it so much here on Iboats on how important they are. Always have new members here and must keep the flame burning. Glad you found him.
Ashame, a simple PFD can save so much grief for so many.

 

[tashasdaddy]

Re: Another Life Lost - No PFD

when alone, i always wear my auto- inflateable.

 

[BoatBuoy]

Re: Another Life Lost - No PFD

Sad indeed. So many times loss of life(not only in boating) could be prevented by a PFD, seat belt, or other very simple act.

I urge all of the very nice people that I have come to know in these forums to wear their PFDs.

Does that mean that you have come to know some that are not so very nice, or that you only hope the very nice ones wear their PFDs?

 

[jay_merrill]

Re: Another Life Lost - No PFD

Yes, I have met some not-so-nice folks here at iboats, but only a few and I don't think any of them still frequent the site. That said, I hope they wear their PFDs too!

I also hope that boaters realize that wearing a PFD is for their family members, as well as for themselves. As someone who does SARs on a volunteer basis, I often find myself talking to the families. I guess that happens, because they view me as a "regular joe" and feel that they can relate to me better than the official folks. The pain that you see in the eyes and faces of these people, stays with you and makes you want to make posts on sites like this that are, admittedly, a little on the "preachy" side.

Its not really a matter of becoming deeply affected personally, because you learn to deal with that side of this kind of volunteer work, but you do develop a sense of frustration and bewilderment to some degree. The frustration is in knowing that the body that you found could have been a live person, if not for a simple, bad decision. The bewilderment part of it is in wondering why people are so darn adament about not wearing a PFD. I've probably heard just about all of the rationalizations that people offer up, but it still baffles me. Somehow, a minor bit of discomfort just doesn't seem to stack up to the possibility of losing your life.

To each his own, I guess.



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