Woman Injured in Herrington Lake Boating Accident

A 59-year-old woman from Louisville suffered injuries recently when she fell out of a boat on Herrington Lake and was cut by the boat’s propeller, according to an article in The Lexington Herald-Leader.

The woman and two friends were boating on Herrington Lake when the boat struck an underwater object, possibly a submerged log. The woman and another of the boaters, also a woman, were thrown into the water. The third person on the boat steered the boat toward the swimming women, but got too close, and one of the women suffered cuts from the boat’s underwater propeller.

The person steering the boat was able to pull the injured woman to a nearby private dock, where several people who had been fishing near the dock came over to help. Rescue workers were called, and the woman was taken to the University of Kentucky Chandler Hospital for treatment. Her condition has yet to be released.

Boating accidents increase throughout Kentucky and the United States in the summer, when people take advantage of the good weather, warm temperatures, and longer days to head out onto lakes, rivers, and the ocean. Unfortunately, boating poses many of the same risks as driving. Being in charge of a boat means paying attention to where the boat is going, staying alert for possible hazards, and watching carefully for smaller vessels as well as for swimmers. When boaters aren’t careful, boating accidents can result, often which are serious or even deadly.