Kelly Kenoyer
Two children were seriously injured by a wayward jet ski at Lewis Creek Park Monday afternoon, July 20.
Emergency responders received the call at 2 p.m.
Sweet Home Fire and Ambulance District Chief Dave Barringer said the two victims were a 6-year-old boy, transported by helicopter to Legacy Emanual Medical Center in Portland, and a 6-year-old girl, transported by ambulance to PeaceHealth Sacred Heart Medical Center at RiverBend in Eugene.
The Sheriff’s Office said the girl was then also airlifted to Legacy Emmanuel.
Officials had not released the identities of the two children as of press time.
However, Facebook posts by family members and acquaintances identified the two as Zach Maynard and Kennedy Swenson.
Maynard’s mother, Rachel Maynard, posted that he had “many, many head fractures.”
“It’s bad. Continue prayers, please.”
Linn County Sheriff Jim Yon said that a 23-year-old male lost control of his personal watercraft, which then plowed through a crowd of people in the swimming area at Lewis Creek Park.
Shannon Ritz, a seasonal parks employee, was on shift when the accident happened.
“It sounded like something crashing, I thought a party boat tipped over,” she said.
Ritz added that the driver of the jet ski was shouted at by bystanders.
Afterwards, she saw “at least four kids getting wrapped in bandages.”
Eyewitness 17-year-old Nikita Zubov said he saw a jet ski without a rider “fly” through the swimming hole by Lewis Creek, striking two children.
The machine continued after that, running into the bank to the east of the swimming area with such speed it popped into the air before dropping back into the water, hitting the dock, and finally coming to a halt, he said.
“My dad’s a paramedic, so we ran over there with a first aid kit and were helping out,” Zubov said.
His father, Dmitriy Zubov, works at Salem Fire and Rescue and brought his family here for a vacation.
“My wife heard some screaming,” Dmitriy said, so he ran towards the bank in time to see the out-of-control jet ski hit the dock. “We rushed to the beach and tried to help with the medical stuff.”
Dmitriy said the injured little boy “suffered from a pretty significant head injury,” while the little girl “suffered moderate facial injuries.”
Nikita said he’s proud of his father, who, for his part, was modest about his part in the events.
“That’s what we do. Doesn’t matter if we’re off duty or on duty, we’re trained to help so that’s what we do,” Dmitriy said.
As a jet ski owner himself, Dmitriy said he is suspicious about a jet ski that can move that fast without a rider. They typically slow down to a near stop if a rider falls off, he said.
“It should not do that unless you do a modification to it, but that’s not my expertise,” Dmitriy said.
Both injured children were initially to be airlifted to the hospital, with a planned staging area near the Sweet Home High School football field for them to be taken by air ambulance the rest of the way.
The first helicopter went directly to the park and the second experienced technical problems, so the girl was instead taken away by ambulance.
Yon said an additional injury was reported later to Lebanon Community Hospital.
After the children were transported away from the park, investigators from the Linn County Sheriff’s Department, Sweet Home Fire, and Linn County Parks Department began interviewing witnesses and all visitors leaving the park.
By 4:30 p.m., there was still a long line of cars waiting to speak with sheriff’s deputies before leaving the park.
The operator of the watercraft is cooperating with law enforcement, Yon said, and the investigation is ongoing.
Anyone with information, video, or photographs related to the investigation is encouraged to call Detective Colin Pyle at the Linn County Sheriff’s Office at (541) 967-3950.