11 y/o killed by lifeguard boat

zjbell
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7/15/2009 11:20am Edited Date/Time 1/13/2012 5:06am



http://www.ocregister.com/articles/lifeguard-lifeguards-junior-2494288-…

HUNTINGTON BEACH – An autopsy is scheduled for this morning for an 11 year-old junior lifeguard who died Tuesday night hours after being run over by a lifeguard boat during training, Orange County Coroner officials said today.

Authorities initially reported Tuesday afternoon that Allyssa Squirrell of Laguna Hills had been slashed by a lifeguard boat's propeller, but later backed away from that statement, saying the accident is under investigation by the Orange County Sheriff's Department.

Allyssa was doing routine training with a group of 20 to 25 junior lifeguards when she was injured just before 3 p.m. The junior lifeguards were all between 11 and 12 years old. The group was practicing a "speed drop," a skill used by lifeguards to reach swimmers in distress as quickly as possible. The lifeguard boat dropped the group of junior lifeguards into the water as part of the drill and then circled to pull them out of the water when it struck and critically injured the girl.

The Huntington Beach Junior Lifeguard Program, which has not seen any fatality since its inception in 1964, will be suspended today but will resume Thursday, said Huntington Beach city spokeswoman Laurie Payne.

"We've had a very successful program for 45 years," she said. "This is the first time anything like this has ever happened. More than 20,000 lifeguards have passed through this program successfully."

Payne said instructors and the other lifeguards, who are distraught over Allyssa's death, are still supportive of the program. The junior lifeguards are now halfway through the eight-week program.

The lifeguard boat that hit Allyssa was piloted by a 32-year veteran marine safety officer. Orange County Sheriff's Department officials who interviewed him Tuesday said he was "extremely devastated."

Payne said the investigation must take its course. It's too early to tell whether or not the city will reevaluate its Junior Lifeguard Program, she said.

"This was an accident," Payne said.





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Farva
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US
7/15/2009 11:23am
I'm sure someone will sue regardless if it was an accident or not.
Titan
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Lehi, UT US
7/15/2009 11:52am
Ban all Lifegaurd boats...

lifegaurd boats kill children...

if you want to protect your children you'll vote to ban lifegaurd boats....

One death is to many...if we can save one life by banning lifegaurd boats, it will be worth it...

(oh, nevermind...I thought this was a thread about guns...and why we should ban them).
motogeezer
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Yorba Linda, CA US
7/15/2009 12:20pm
Titan wrote:
Ban all Lifegaurd boats... lifegaurd boats kill children... if you want to protect your children you'll vote to ban lifegaurd boats.... One death is to many...if...
Ban all Lifegaurd boats...

lifegaurd boats kill children...

if you want to protect your children you'll vote to ban lifegaurd boats....

One death is to many...if we can save one life by banning lifegaurd boats, it will be worth it...

(oh, nevermind...I thought this was a thread about guns...and why we should ban them).
You're on a roll today, Titan.

Heard the story on the news this morning.

Very sad.

I hope the pilot of the boat can get over it one day. He's got to feel terrible.
zjbell
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7/15/2009 12:32pm
motogeezer wrote:
You're on a roll today, Titan. Heard the story on the news this morning. Very sad. I hope the pilot of the boat can get over...
You're on a roll today, Titan.

Heard the story on the news this morning.

Very sad.

I hope the pilot of the boat can get over it one day. He's got to feel terrible.
I just got off the phone with my girlfriend and the guy driving the boat was one of the instructors when I did the Jr. Guard program way back in the day. Sad to see, I know the guy had a kid my age who is also a lifeguard with HB city. My heart really goes out to the family, what a terrible accident.

I rode to the pier this morning and saw the makeshift memorial for the little girl, one of the largest flower arrangements was from the Oats family, whose son was killed on his bike about a quarter mile from my house a year or two ago. The guy driving the truck that hit him was texting trying to score drugs when he killed the kid.

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