TBO.com - TBO is Tampa Bay Online

Lake Tarpon Boat Wreck Critically Injures Woman

News Channel 8 image by JOHN WINTERROWD

No charges have been filed from the Saturday evening boat wreck that critically injured Patricia Blankenship, 21.

ADVERTISEMENT

By NEIL JOHNSON | The Tampa Tribune

Published: April 6, 2008

A 21-year-old woman was in critical condition today after two boats collided Saturday on Lake Tarpon.

Patricia Blankenship, 3023 Salisbury Dr., Holiday, was thrown from the boat she was riding in and had her left arm nearly severed by the propeller, the Pinellas County Sheriff's Office said.

She was flown to Tampa General Hospital and was immediately placed into surgery. No one else was seriously injured.

Blankenship was one of four people on a 16-foot boat Saturday on the west side of Lake Tarpon when the vessel collided just after 6:30 p.m. with a 21-foot boat that was anchored.

The sheriff's office said Blankenship was thrown from the boat which launched into the air after the collision, flew over the anchored boat and landed near where Blankenship was in the water.

The sheriff's office said she received numerous injuries from the boat's propeller.

There was no one aboard the anchored vessel. The owners were with friends aboard another boat, the sheriff's office said.

The investigation is continuing. The sheriff's office said alcohol was a factor in the accident.

Also aboard the boat were Blankenship's husband Justin Shields, 23, Jeremy Rettman, 31 of Oldsmar and Amanda Rettman, 23, also of Oldsmar.

Loading Comments...

Email Print

ADVERTISEMENT