At 2:11 pm on Thursday Lawrence County Dispatch center received a 911 call from a female caller stating that her husband had fallen while launching a boat at the Dixie Lee access. The female stated that she wasn’t sure if her husband fell in the boat before it floated away or if he’d fallen into the water.
Lawrence County Sheriff’s deputies, Hoxie fire department, Clover Bend fire department, Ravenden Police Department, Black Rock Police Department, Arkansas Game and Fish, and the Lawrence County Sheriff’s Dive Team were all dispatched to the scene. Strawberry Fire Department and their rescue boat was requested to launch at the Coffee access and begin searching upriver.
At 2:46pm the Dive team launched a rescue boat, two rescue swimmers, a medical officer, and an officer from Arkansas Game and Fish were on board. Within minutes the boat was spotted downstream with a weak elderly male laying on the deck. Once contact was made the medical officer began checking the patient as the Dive Team was joined by a second boat with an Arkansas Game and Fish officer on board. A decision was made to tow the boat with the victim still in it to an ambulance that was waiting at the Dixie Lee access.
The male subject was transported by ambulance to a local hospital. The incident is being investigated by the LCSO and  Arkansas Game and Fish Units were cleared from the scene at 3:30pm.
For more information on the Lawrence County Sheriff’s Office visit www.lawrencecountysheriffsoffice.com
