Freak Inner Tubing Accident Kills 11-Year-Old Boy
An unidentified 11-year-old boy died Saturday when the inner tube he was being pulled on collided with a personal watercraft (or Jet Ski) on Lake Worth.
The boy was riding on the tube with another boy and they were being pulled by a boat. Coincidentally, the watercraft they ran into was also pulling two boys on a rubber tube.
The 11-year-old was CareFlighted to Cook Children’s Hospital in Fort Worth where he died. The boating accident happened at 3:45 p.m. No one else was hurt and no charges were filed. The accident was still being investigated over the weekend.
This was the first of two water-related accidents which killed kids over the weekend, and unfortunately, they probably won’t be the last. With summer officially underway and temperatures consistently topping 100 degrees, North Texans are heading for water to cool down. Annually, hundreds of Texans are killed in boating-related accidents as the number of boats in Texas waters increases. The good news is, the number of water-related fatalities has consistently decreased over the years, but this isn’t a perfect world and accidents still happen.
To prevent boating and other watercraft-related accidents, Texas Parks and Wildlife recommends following these four principles of safe boating:
1) Wearing life jackets
2) Being educated on boat safety
3) Operating safe boats and equipment
4) Boating sober
Information provided by Texas Boating Accident Attorney Mark A. Anderson: 817-294-1900.
