By Rick Hurd
Contra Costa Times
KNIGHTSEN, Calif. — The most severely injured of the five people involved in a weekend boating accident in Knightsen is expected to survive only because the speed with which a helicopter got her to a hospital, a East County Fire District official said Wednesday.
Two women, two men and a 4-year-old girl were injured about 6:10 p.m. Sunday when the boat ran upon some rocks while traveling in the Delta near the Holland/Riverside Marina in Knightsen, Battalion Chief Jeff Burris said. The victims were thrown from the boat onto the rocks.
“Without being able to share details, we can say that we’ve been told that one of the woman made it to the hospital within moments of it being too late,” Burris said. “She is expected to recover.”
Rescuers arrived to find the woman in the water. They extricated her with the aid of a “strokes board,” a type of backboard made with metal wiring that is used in water rescues. She was airlifted to John Muir Medical Center in Walnut Creek, where her condition could not be revealed because of state privacy laws.
Rescuers believe the 4-year-old girl may have landed on top of the woman on the rocks after being thrown from the boat, Burris said.
“Those rocks are boulder and granite, too,” Burris said.
The young girl was taken to UC Davis Medical Center. Officials did not have an update on her condition. One person was taken by ambulance to the hospital and two others refused treatment.
The Contra Costa Sheriff’s Marine Patrol continues to investigate.