Wenatchee Man Critical After River Rescue

From a press release - Sheriff Brian Burnett reports a 47-year-old Wenatchee man is in critical condition Sunday morning after a rafting accident on the Wenatchee River Saturday evening.  Ronald Anderson was swept off an inflatable tube as he and other subjects were floating toward the Cottage Avenue Bridge at about 5:45 p.m. Some of the inflatable rafts and tubes deflated as they were caught in the strong water flow around the bridge pillars near the center of the river.  Anderson was on a single tube which was tied to two other tubes and a raft.  There were a total of five subjects in the group. Anderson went under water after colliding with the raft in front of him as they struck a bridge pillar.  Anderson was eventually rescued by other members of the group.  He was lifted onto one of the remaining inflated tubes and floated to the shore as 911 was called by a resident in the area.  Rescue breathing was initiated as they floated Anderson toward the shore.  Two citizens who witnessed the incident ran to assist the subjects in keeping Anderson above water and began CPR.

Chelan County Sheriff’s Deputies, Cashmere Fire & Aid and Ballard Medics all responded to the area and met the subjects along the shore in the 100 block of Riverfront Drive.  Life-saving efforts continued until Anderson was transported to Central Washington Hospital in Wenatchee.  Two of the other four subjects involved in the incident received minor injuries.

Anderson was not wearing a personal floatation device.  He remains in critical condition at Central Washington Hospital.