32-Year-Old Rescued After Swim Goes Wrong
Ambulance waiting for missing swimmer. [Photo by Gracie Pasalich]
On April 27, 2019, at about 4:40 p.m. the Humboldt County Sheriff’s Emergency Communication Center received a 9-1-1 call for service regarding a male subject swept away in the Trinity River.
According to the reporting party, the 32-year-old male victim decided to go for a swim in the river in the Knight’s Bluff area of Willow Creek, but upon jumping into the water, had not surfaced.
The Sheriff’s Office’s jet boat and a Hoopa Valley Tribal Police Department boat were launched near the area in which the man was reported missing. A California Highway Patrol helicopter was also dispatched to aid in the search.
While searching the river, deputies located the victim alive downstream from Knight’s Bluff near the river’s edge at about 6 p.m. Deputies rescued the victim and transported him to the Big Rock area where he received treatment for cold exposure.
The Humboldt County Sheriff’s Office would like to thank the Hoopa Valley Tribal Police Department and the California Highway Patrol for their quick response and assistance in this rescue operation.
While the weather is getting warmer throughout Humboldt County, the Sheriff’s Office would like to remind the public that it is still too early to swim in some of our local rivers, including the Trinity River, due to high water levels and swift currents. If you do decide to swim in the local rivers this summer, the Sheriff’s Office offers some safety tips:
- Be sure to check river levels and flow information with the National Weather Service, in addition to water release information for the Trinity River.
- Never swim alone.
- Avoid swimming into a fast-moving current. If the current seems too strong, get out of the water.
- Don’t consume alcohol while swimming.
- Inflatable water toys should not be used in place of a life jacket. Young children should wear a life jacket when swimming in the river. Watch children at all times.
Earlier Chapter: Man Missing on Trinity River; Water Rescue Underway
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??Now how many time have the dangers of the Trinity river at this time of year been brought up in the last week? Maybe they need to start reading Kym’s page.
I agree this is the second near drowning in the Trinity in less than a week!!! Wake up People check the River conditions first before jumping in head first!!! The life you save likely will be your own!!!
guys, it doesn’t say anywhere that the person was local. Unless you know for sure that the person was local and should have known better how about you just pretend that it was a traveler who had no idea who learn the hard way and be kind. You’re not helping anyone with random judgements.
Here’s a judgement: Anybody over the age of 30 who doesn’t have the sense to NOT jump in the frigid and high-flowing river should just die. Even more so for non-locals because if you don’t know a new area you should definitely ask people and approach with caution. We should pull all life-saving personnel off of these cases and let Nature run it’s course. There are way too many people and between overpopulation and mass consumption habits we are killing our only planet. Let’s start a depopulation program by at least allowing dumb asses to kill themselves. They can become fish food and that’s a good thing….There- Now THAT is a judgement! How many agree with me?
Troll spit. Anyway, if you noticed the man had already got himself out. He was just cold.
Right on then! I’d buy him a cheeseburger. I stand by what I trolled.
I’ve jumped into rivers in nearly every state, obviously not always a local, and I can’t understand this at all. It doesn’t take research to determine where and when it’s safe to swim. A brief observation is all it takes. You can’t blame it on unfamiliarity, it’s just stupidity. Stupidity in the face of possible death. So frustrating, being reminded of how dumb the human race can be.
It’s a very good year for the Trinity River, but I think it’s going to be a very bad year for idiots that jump into it. Even during the low flow years the Trinity is not a river you want to fuck with. If you plan on doing more then waid around in the shallows you need a life jacket,wetsuit and helmet. Even the Eel River is going to require more respect than normal for the next couple months. Willowcreek should seriously think about a big bulletin board that lists fatalities and near death in the river each year. I mean seriously, the Trinity River kills more people each year than measles does. yet you don’t have to read daily about the epidemic of people dying in the Trinity River, and you’re not forced by the government to walk around in life preservers all the time…