Source: Official report provides new information on accident…
Found on: 2022-06-01 12:44:39
MIAMI-DADE COUNTY, Fla. – The fiancee of the Good Samaritan who sprang into action after Monday’s deadly parasailing accident recalls receiving a desperate call.
“I was pretty frantic on the call. He said, ‘Call 911 right away,’” Kasey Platt said.
Her fiancé, John Callion, works as a fishing guide and was on his boat when he witnessed a three-person parasail over the Old Seven Mile Bridge in Marathon.
Platt described what he said on the call to Local 10 News reporter Janine Stanwood.
“I just saw a parasail line break and I’m on my way to go try and save people,” Platt recalled Callion saying.
Callion spoke Wednesday morning with Good Morning America.
“I thought they had it under control first. But for a minute, my clients were like, ‘What’s going on? What are they doing?’” she said. “I’m like, ‘Looks like they’re trying to come up with a plan to rescue these people.’ And then, you know, 30 seconds go by, which seemed much longer and nothing was changing. That’s when we jumped into action.”
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A boat captain who rushed in to help after three people were involved in a parasailing crash in the Florida Keys is speaking out about the incident.
The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC) released a report on the tragic accident Tuesday night.
According to the report, “the captain cut the line attached to the three victims” because the parasail was “stuck”.
That is a phrase used to describe when a parasail becomes a sail in strong winds and could drag the boat.
The woman and two children were dropped and “dragged through the water by the inflated parasail … and across the surface of the water” before colliding with the bridge, according to the report.
According to the report, aboard the 31-foot boat were nine people from Schaumburg, Illinois.
Authorities identified the woman who died as Supraja Alaparthi, 33. Her 10-year-old son, Sriakshith Alaparthi, was also parasailing with her. The 7-year-old boy who was airlifted to Nicklaus Children’s Hospital is Alaparthi’s nephew, identified as Vishant Sadat.
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An ABC affiliate in Chicago spoke with several neighbors and friends of the victims, who said they were family members who came to Florida for a vacation.
FWC officials said Supraja Alaparthi was pronounced dead when the captain of the Good Samaritan ship arrived to help.
The report identified the captain of the parasailing boat as Daniel Couch, 49, who works for Lighthouse Parasail Inc., which is based in Marathon.
After Callion arrived on his boat to help, the passengers performed CPR on the victims as he rushed everyone to the docks at the nearby Sunset Grille restaurant.
“The kid…was letting me know, ‘Help me, help me.’ And we put him on the boat right away. And then we got the other kid who was unconscious. And then we put his mom on the boat,” Callion said.
Platt said her fiancé usually does his tarpon fishing in Long Key, not Marathon.
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But on Monday, he decided to take customers near the Old Seven Mile Bridge.
“He was certainly put in the right place at the right time for that reason,” he said.
“My heart and prayers go out to the victims, I really did all I could do,” Callion wrote. “One woman was pronounced dead upon her arrival and the other child who was unconscious was saved by my client on board en route to the dock and local EMTs met us at the dock to continue life-saving measures. In conclusion. Never take life for granted. Things can change in a second.”
Local 10 News contacted Lighthouse Parasail Inc., and a co-owner said by phone that they are “devastated” by what happened.
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