A woman who was part of a church group riding on a raft on the Nolichucky River has died in a tragic incident, according to the North Carolina Wildlife Resources Commission.
Officials said 64-year-old Louvella Yelton Arrowood, of Bakersville, North Carolina, was killed in the incident which occurred Saturday afternoon in Mitchell County. Officials said the raft operated by USA Rafting capsized while carrying a church group onboard. Witnesses said Arrowood, who was wearing a personal flotation device and a helmet, went under the water and remained there for 5 to 8 minutes before being pulled out.
CPR was performed at the scene, but was not successful.
The incident remains under investigation.
Below is a statement regarding the incident from USA Raft Adventure Resort CEO Matt Mose.
On Saturday Sept 12, 2020 our 2:30 trip had 14 guests and 3 guides. At the beginning of a substantial rapid, a raft flipped. Two other rafts were positioned downstream as part of standard safety procedures and immediately began recovering guests. All guests were recovered by the other rafts quickly. One of the guests, a 63 year old female, was pulled from the river into a raft and found to be unresponsive. Our guides, along with guests and two CPR-certified private boaters, responded immediately providing CPR until emergency services arrived. The guest was evacuated up the train tracks to where the trip initially launched in Poplar, NC. It was here that Mitchell County EMS took control of the incident and eventually pronounced her death. We are heartbroken to report that she passed away.
Evacuations, serious injury and death are extremely rare on commercial trips on the Nolichucky. Our guides and trip leaders are very well-trained and prepared to minimize the risk involved and respond to incidents on the river.
We want to thank emergency responders, guides and guests for their assistance during this tragedy. Specifically, we want to thank Bradshaw, NC VFD, Mitchell County EMS, Unicoi County Sheriff's Dept, Southside Rescue Squad, CSX and Unicoi County EMS.
At this point, we are doing everything we can to support the family and our staff members that were both on the river that day or involved in the efforts from our headquarters in Erwin. What happened Saturday was a tragedy for our guests, our guides and community. Our thoughts and prayers are with the family of the deceased as well as everyone that was on the trip or otherwise involved.