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Jet ski collides with boat A fishing boat collided with a jet ski on Chatuge Lake earlier this month, injuring a woman and her three-year-old son who were sent to Murphy Medical Center to be treated for injuries. Abigail Georgia of Young Harris, Ga. was driving a friend's jet ski in the Gibson Cove area near Chatuge Dam on the evening of July 5 when the crash occured. Georgia and her son were thrown from the unit upon impact according to a report filed with the N.C. Wildlife Resources Commission. The commission oversees accident reports on the reservoir. "We rode around the cove for a couple of times..." Georgia stated. "A boat struck me out of nowhere; all I saw was white." Boat owner and operator Laughty Hooper, of Hayesville, was boating on the lake with four of his grandchildren when one yelled that a jet ski was in the path of the boat, investigating officer David Owens said. By that time the two had already run into each other, he said, noting that both Georgia and Hooper were traveling less than 10 miles per hour. "The boat had gone up on [the jet ski] a little bit and slid back off," Owens said. "He didn't have enough speed to even get on top of it." Ownes said that Georgia was thrust underwater by the impact and upon resurfacing began looking for her son and seeking help. Georgia and her son were treated at Murphy Medical Center afterwards. Owens said she had a wrist injury on her right hand and her son was bruised on his head. They were released that evening. Both Hooper and Georgia said they did not see each other prior to impact, Owens said. There are no plans to make charges he said. Safety saved the day, Owens said. "All the kids by law under age 13 have to have life jackets on," he sad. "Everyone involved had them; that contributed to everyone being okay."
E-mail Harrison at hkeely@ smokymountainsentinel.com.
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