The Fourth of July Celebration in DeKalb County was marred by tragedy the day before on Thursday, July 3 with a boating related accident on Center Hill Lake that claimed the life of a Brentwood woman.
According to the Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency 57-year-old Mary Beth Foran died after getting trapped by a boat’s engine propeller on Center Hill Lake.
The DeKalb County Fire Department said crews were sent to a single-boat incident on Center Hill Lake near Hurricane Marina just before 6 p.m. on Thursday, July 3.
Emergency first responders reportedly found a ski boat approximately 300 yards away from the marina when they arrived. Then, crews said they discovered an unconscious woman, now identified as Foran, in the water and under the boat, trapped by the boat’s inboard engine propeller.
In addition, officials reported the operator of the boat—only described as an adult male—was in the water at the back of the boat in an attempt to rescue Foran.
According to the DeKalb County Fire Department, rescue personnel were able to free Foran, but she had already “succumbed to the traumatic injury.”
Several agencies—including the Smithville/DeKalb County Rescue Squad, Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency, DeKalb County Emergency Medical Service, DeKalb County Sheriff’s Department, and the Putnam County Rescue Squad—responded to the incident on Center Hill Lake Thursday evening.
Officials said those involved are from Brentwood, Tennessee.
The TWRA is investigating the deadly incident.