| Reelfoot Lake fishing accident leaves 1 dead |
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Posted: Wednesday, October 3, 2012 6:17 am
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By EVAN JONES
Special to The Press
A fishing accident claimed the life of a Shelby County man and sent another to the hospital after their boat capsized on Reelfoot Lake Friday afternoon.
Donald Nanney, 65, of Eads was pronounced dead at the scene when he was brought to Lovell’s Landing on the south side of Reelfoot Lake. He and Mike Fraley, 67, of Tiptonville were fishing in a Reelfoot Lake boat — or “stump jumper” — when the accident occurred.
Lt. Danny Tippit of the Lake County Sheriff’s Department said the men hit a stump, the boat tipped over and swamped, casting both men in the water.
Fraley was able to make it to a stump. Tippit said it appeared that Nanney was unresponsive soon after the boat capsized. “We listed the death as a possible heart attack or medical condition,” Tippit said.
He said the men were in the water about 45 minutes before they were rescued by Brett Burress, 18, and Shaw Logan, 17. Both young men are students at Obion County Central High School. They called emergency personnel and they responded to the boat landing just after dusk.
Fraley was taken to Baptist Memorial Hospital-Union City, where he was placed in the ICU for possible hypothermia and heart problems. He was released on Sunday.
It was the second time in three years that the extremely low lake levels have contributed to a death. In 2010, a fisherman from Obion County had an apparent heart attack after his boat became struck on one of the stumps. Charles P. Turner, 76, died in Oct. 29, 2010.
Reelfoot Lake remains more than two feet below pool level.
The Lake County Sheriff’s Department, Reelfoot Lake State Park rangers and the Lake County EMS responded to the emergency.
Editor’s note: Evan Jones is editor of The Lake County Banner in Tiptonville. Published in The WCP 10.2.12 |
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