...not a good weekend

[ratso]

Friday afternoon I get a call from someone and was told there was a bad motorcycle wreck about a 1/4 mile from my shop, and the guy was asking for him to call me. Turns out it was a good friend of mine. He took a turn too wide, got into some loose gravel on the shoulder and ran through some posts with that thick cable that is strung through the posts. Why they have that there, I don't know... but instead of crashing the bike and walking away, the cable sandwiched his leg between it and the bike, and he lost that leg just below the knee. They airlifted him to the hospital but couldn't save his leg. He is an awesome strongwilled person and I'm sure he will come out of this just fine. At least he didn't lose his life, which leads me to Sunday afternoon. We were all out at the lake with a few boats. Around 5pm my nephew takes two of his friends for a ride. My son and my girlfriend were supposed to go along also, but certain circumstances at the time didn't allow it to happen. There are a number of witnesses and all the stories match up pretty close. They were running along around 40mph, the two passengers were sitting on top of the rear sundeck, instead of in the seat. The boat hit a couple of large wakes and pitched the boat to the side, and the other two were thrown overboard. Anyway, to make a long story short, one of them, Brian Thomas, never came to the surface. He was only 20 years old and one super nice awesome person. Divers are still searching but have found nothing. Me, my son, my nephews, and needless to say his friends and family are devastated. I'm just sitting here wondering why things like this have to happen to such good people, it's just not right... :confused:

[Kilrtoy]

Sorry to hear this Ratso, I feel for you right now.......

[syke-o]

sorry to hear about that....

[bunny 166]

I'm so sorry Ratso....20 is too young to go.... :frown:

[barbigrl]

Wow...I am so sorry to hear about that :frown: Why were they not sitting in seats??

[mbrown2]

Ratso, that is terrible...just dreadful news...both stories....My condolences go out to the families affected by these tragic events.

[GHTRIM]

Sorry to hear the bad news.... Prayers go out....

[racecar.hotshoe]

Sorry about your friends.My prayers are with you and friends....Another lesson to learn.Sit in the seats thats what they are for..........

[Parker Dreamin]

thoughts and prayers are with ya bud.....

[2sand2]

Shit Like That Soo Sucks
Thoughts And Prayers To Yours And The Family

[WYRD]

Sorry to hear about this Ratso. My prayers go out to you and your family.

[Debbolas]

My thoughts and prayers are with you and your family, sorry....Deb

[Havasteve]

Sorry Man!

[Froggystyle]

I am so sorry to hear about this. Thoughts are with you...

[Holland]

that kind of a weekend will impact a lot of poeple for life!!! Horrible news... My thoughts are with you and your friends.

[dicudmore]

sorry to hear those stories Ratso... :squiggle:

[lost boy]

It is sad to hear this,but sadly it is not the first time or the last time.
Let me be the first(jerk?) to say LIFEJACKETS!!!!!!! YEH ...I know Im just a wussie. But what is it going to take to get the word out???
again, sorry to hear about this. :(

[RiverDave]

I'm very sorry to hear about both those incidents Ratso.. :( :(
Sometimes when it rains it pours.
RD

[Rock-A-Bye-Baby]

Sorry to hear that Ratso...
Life throws things at us that are tough to understand.

[Mrs CP 19]

So very sorry to hear, thoughts and prayers with you and yours...Jill

[Debbolas]

I'm very sorry to hear about both those incidents Ratso.. :( :(
Sometimes when it rains it pours.
RD
(ain't THAT the truth) :idea:
RD just summed up my life in 6 little words.............

[rsoscia]

sorry to hear that ....i fell off a ladder and severly broke my right ankle...doctors said i was very close to loseing my leg below the knee....lucky for me im ok now...there is a great web site called www.mybrokenleg.com helped me greatly...goodluck

[Rexone]

ratso :frown:
I don't know what more to say. Sorry man.

[Kim Hanson]

Ratso, my heart goes out to you buddy.......( . )( . )............ :frown:

[JetBoatRich]

Tough weekend, sorry to read the terrible news. It is very sad to loose a life at any age in such a horrible way.

[shueman]

Sad news indeed... :(

[Dr. Eagle]

my god man. I am so sorry for your losses. Unbelievable. It truly humbles one when these things happen.

[Sane Asylum]

My prayers out to you and the families.....

[Shark In The Pond]

Damn bud ....... I'm so sorry to hear this ! Thought and prayers go out to all . Its so sad that this sort of thing happens and way to often , I was talking to some freinds here about the guy we lost on our lake in a bad crash which was over 4 weeks ago and I'm sorry to say they still have not found him . Which brought up the talk about life jackets which I will be wearing and making my passengers do the same while underway ! I hope more will do the same cause you never know ahead of time when something bad will happen .kinda like the old MX. saying when I rode ... dress for the crash not the ride . Too many times I think a life could of been saved if they were wearing the life jackets ....again I'm so sorry to hear this and I will be giving you a call .

[PHOTOGLOU]

Wow wish there was more to say to make you feel better. Makes you think about your choices. Be safe and make your passengers be safe people think I'mn being a jerk when I tell them to sit down or get in the boat even at low speeds but MY PRAYERS ARE WITH YOU and with the families Jay

[MagicMtnDan]

My condolences to the family who lost a young man. I wish you and your friend better days and hope that you manage to be thankful for not having even worse news to report.
It's a shame how one mistake (not sitting in seats) can result in such a devastating loss!

[hot_diggity_dog]

Ratso My thoughts are with you Bro!
HDD

[purrfecttremor]

our prayers go out to everyone touched by both accidents and the boating community.

[Scream]

We're so sorry for your pain Ratso, our thoughts and prayers are with you, youre family and all involved with these unfortunate events...
Scream

[ratso]

Thanks everybody. I'm going to give a copy of this thread to Brian's mom tomorrow. There are so many ifs, ands, or buts that keep going through my mind. I would give anything in the world to change all this if I could. Kevin (Shark In The Pond)... thanks for the phone call. It means so much to me. Kevin has met most of these young men before when he was down here visiting, and I know he has met Brian. We are all a pretty close knit clan, and losing one of them feels like I lost a son. He was always in a good mood, always had a smile on his face, and he just gave you a good feeling inside just by being around him. This has affected so many people. There have probably been a hundred people on the shore and under the pavillion where the rescue team and divers are working. They are supposed to start searching again around 7 or 8am in the morning. This is about all I can handle right now with the tears coming... so I'm signing off for the night. Thanks again to everyone. It is very much appreciated...
Randall

[Flying Tiger]

Sorry to hear the news,,,

[MOBrien]

:frown: Many prayers are with you and your crew Ratso. Be with them and help each other grieve & get through this. It's no doubt a terrible thing, but you and your family & friends need to lean on each other now more than ever.....make sure you do that & don't go at it alone.
take care HB bro.

[missboatnam1]

ratso, im so sorry to hear this...sometimes i dont understand.....we take our body, and our life for granted, and at any moment we can loose any one of them.....we are all so fortunate to be alive, and have the great things in life that we do, even if its not everything we wished we had...we are all so lucky.....somtimes we need to sit back and thank god for the things we do have!! :frown:

[Mrs.Racer277]

You and your family will be in our thoughts and prayers.

[FMluvswater]

Sorry to hear about your friends, ratso. :( Friends are precious. You're all in my prayers.

[pixilatedpussy]

I am so sorry sweetie...My heart gos out to you :frown: :clover:

[Tom Brown]

Sorry Ratso.

[spectras only]

Terrible news Ratso. Don't want to sound like a broken record, but please folks ,put your life jacket on while at speed and anyone on a tube. There's no time to recover one ,[ had this experience with my son last summer,when he passed out hitting the water hard falling out in a turn ] before sinking to the bottom.I always make him wear a PDF. Again ,very sorry to hear about your loss.

[BobbyB]

I hope that your friend recovers alright, and my deepest condolences go out to the family of Brian T.

[Biglue]

Bless you all through these types of times. I'm sorry to hear of your hard times. Time and company will ease you through it. God Bless.
Louie.

[R.A.D.man]

So sorry to hear of this Ratso. By sharing this and by reading the responses I can only think you have helped someone else avoid something similar.

[topless]

I'm soooooooooo sorry Ratso. Prayers are with you and them from me. :(

[Mr.Havasu]

So sorry ratso, Our preyers are with you and their families. Gods speed

[Aqua Boogie1]

My prayers to you and your crew Ratso.................. :frown: :(

[PlyaPlya22]

My thoughts and prayers go out your family and friends.