On July 6, 2008, a 14-year-old boy lost his arm in Pacific City after a dory boat struck him while surfing. Other surfers were able to recover his arm and administer aid. The boy was air lifted to Emanuel Hospital in Portland where he underwent surgery to reattach his arm. Witnesses say the Dory boat approached the beach at a high speed with no warnings even though its mandated to blare the boats horn within 100 yards of the beach. A very sad incident indeed. Surfrider is following this issue closely and we hope that future incidents like this can be avoided. Surfrider Foundation chapters in Oregon have strong ties with both surfers and fishermen, and we hope this incident will not compromise the use of the area for either user group. As a grassroots organization that advocates for surfer access, we are engaged in discussions with members of the PC surf community, and willing to provide support, as needed. Hopefully we can all work within this community to better educate all users so something like this never happens again.
