Accidents on river on July 4th weekend

By TOM KANE

RIVER VALLEY — Two accidents occurred on the Delaware River over the July 4th weekend.

On Sunday, July 3, Alberto Mercado, 32, a Spanish-speaking man, leaped from high rocks —a height of some 30 feet—at “Elephant’s Feet,” a place on the river just above Matamoras. He landed on a submerged rock shelf a few inches below the water surface.

He incurred several compound fractures and internal injuries.

Luckily, Bill Walters, a member of the National Canoe Safety Patrol, was only a few feet away in his boat, and rushed over and stopped the man from slipping below the water as he lost consciousness.

“Another person whom I did not know but who knew Spanish leaped into the water with me and we both stabilized him while I called the National Park Service dispatcher who then called the Orange County EMS,” Walters said. The Sparrowbush Fire Department responded and called for a helicopter to take the injured man to Westchester Medical Center.

Sparrowbush utilized its fan boat that skims over the water surface to rush the man to a spot where a helicopter could land.

Walters belongs to a volunteer group who assist the National Park Service in patrolling the river at several locations.

“If I hadn’t been right there, the man would probably have drowned,” Waters said.

Mercado was still in the hospital on July 11 and was listed in stable condition.

The second accident involved a woman floating in a raft over Stairway Rapids, a section of the river about two miles below the Pond Eddy Bridge.

Theresa Oursler, 56, of Clinton, MD, was thrown from her raft and lost her life jacket.

“The jacket wasn’t put on properly and came off when she spilled into the rapid,” said Al Henry, National Park Service, chief of protection. “She had surgery recently and panicked in the water. Members of her party came to her assistance quickly and pulled her into quieter waters.”

The rescuers called 911 and she was taken to Bon Secours Hospital in Port Jervis where she was treated and released.

Firemen from Lumberland Fire Department responded to the call.

“I saw her later and she told me that she was sure she would have drowned if her friend hadn’t acted so quickly,” Henry said.