FORT MYERS BEACH, Fla. -- A woman died after helping to push a boat that was stuck on Fort Myers Beach on Friday.
Tammy and Mike Randolph were eating dinner at Lani Kai Island Resort when they noticed two boats stuck near the shore because of low tide. A group of people was pushing one of the boats out into the water, but the driver kept the motors on. Mike says from there the situation only got worse.
“I turned around to her brother a couple of times and said ‘this is not good… they should not be doing this," Mike said. “You never get in the water with a boat running. That’s just one of the number one rules.”
Tammy recalls seeing the woman get off the boat to try and help and moments later saw her get sucked underwater. The next image she saw was a body floating on top of the water.
“Her right arm was hanging… off, almost completely off. My daughter had an up-close view of it," Tammy said.
Tammy's daughter attempted to save the woman, but it was too late. Tammy says she wishes authorities could have acted sooner. “If they would’ve just gotten on their horn and said ‘turn your motor off'…you know it would’ve been that easy to save her life," Tammy said.
The woman was transported to Health Park Hospital with severe injuries and later died as a result of her injuries. The victim’s information won't be released per exemption in Florida Statute 119.071.
Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission suggests checking tide levels before boating. If your boat gets stuck near a shore with low tide, they recommend to either wait for the high tide to come in or call a towing company to get your boat out.
