Man drowns in river boating accident

SPARROWBUSH, NY — New York State Police said a New York City man was drowned in a boating accident late Saturday morning while he was kayaking with his son.

Layton Ledgister, 52, had rented a two-person kayak from Lander River Trips for a July 10 river outing with his 13-year-old son.

Witnesses told police that the Ledgister kayak overturned near Butler’s Rift, just upstream of the Hawks Nest, near the Sullivan/Orange county border.

The younger Ledgister was able to swim to shore.

Dr. Brian Scanlan, a New York City physician who was boating with his family, assisted a youth group rafting in the area in attempting to rescue the elder Ledgister. Scanlan said unsuccessful cardio-pulmonary resuscitation efforts were made when the rescuers managed to get the unresponsive man to shore. “I was told that he’d been underwater for maybe four minutes.”

Scanlon made the death pronouncement at the scene.

The boaters carried Ledgister and his son, who was not injured, downstream to the Number 2 Railroad bridge, where they encountered a fire department rescue boat. The boy was transported to Bon Secours Community Hospital in Port Jervis, where he was treated for shock and released.

Police said that the father and son were wearing life jackets at the time of the accident, but that they were not properly secured.

Layton Ledgister was the second river drowning victim of the 2004 boating season.