Both Recovering From Boating Accident : Well-Prepared Scout Rescues Leader

Robert Melford doesn’t remember much about the day he nearly lost his life.

The 26-year-old assistant Boy Scout leader can’t recall the 20-foot powerboat slamming into the canoe from which he was fishing. He doesn’t remember the frantic shouts for help, the blood from the gaping gash in his head, the chilly water of Lake Mohave as he went under.

The last thing that Melford remembers is dozing in the red canoe, absorbing the desert sun and waiting for the bass to bite. He said his memory picks up about a week after the April 1 accident.

But for 15-year-old Michael Redmond, who was in the rear of the canoe, and his fellow scouts from Sherman Oaks Boy Scout Troop 74, the memories of that terrifying day may never fade.

What had started as a long-anticipated fishing expedition ended disastrously for the six Scouts and their two leaders as they sat in four plastic canoes in a wide stretch of the Colorado River that straddles the Nevada-Arizona border.

Redmond saved Melford’s life after a powerboat with a 305-horsepower motor crashed into their canoe at high speed, slashing the boy’s feet with its propeller and knocking Melford unconscious with severe head and neck injuries. The motorboat’s skipper, 47-year-old Franklin Ross Farr of Las Vegas, told authorities that he was watching a fish finder on board and failed to see the canoe, according to a National Park Service accident report.

“We were sitting in the canoe drift-fishing, and three seconds before the boat hit us, I saw it,” Redmond said. “I yelled once at the boat and once at Robert. I found myself in the water and didn’t know where Robert was.”

Redmond’s best friend, 14-year-old James Latham, saw the accident from another canoe about 75 yards away.

“I saw the motorboat in the air, and then it splashed down,” Latham said. “Then I realized it had hit a canoe.”

The boat nearly cut the canoe in half when it struck at a 45-degree angle, the accident report says.

Dove Underwater

Though badly injured, Redmond dove underwater to save the drowning Scout leader. After pulling Melford to the surface, he used his extensive first-aid and rescue training to keep Melford’s head above water until help arrived.

Farr immediately turned the boat around and jumped into the water to help. Scoutmaster Marty Walsh and several other Scouts lifted Melford onto the boat and took him to a nearby resort. A rescue helicopter flew Redmond and Melford to University Medical Center in Las Vegas, where both underwent emergency surgery.

The National Park Service last week cited Farr for negligent boat operations and failure to maintain a proper lookout, said Bud Inman, assistant chief ranger at Lake Mead National Recreation Area in Boulder City, Nev. A hearing on the charges, which each carry a maximum penalty of $500 and six months in jail, will be held in the next few weeks before a U.S. magistrate in Las Vegas, Inman said.

Redmond was allowed to return to his North Hollywood home six days after the accident. Melford was transferred to Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles, where he is undergoing intensive physical therapy to restore use of his left arm and leg and right lower leg, which became partially paralyzed in the accident.

Quick Thinking

In an interview from his hospital bed last week, Melford said Redmond’s first-aid skills and the quick thinking of Walsh and the Scouts saved precious time and helped prevent further injuries.

“It was a rather gory scene,” Melford said. “They really kept their cool and did what they needed to, and they made the difference. I was visited by the helicopter crew that took us to the hospital, and they said they had not seen better work from professional rescue teams.”

“Mike’s a tough kid,” he said. “Considering his injuries, he’s in terrific spirits. He really is a nice young fellow. I’m glad he was there.”

The boy was confined to a wheelchair until recently but now uses crutches. He faces a second operation this week to remove a surgical pin from his left foot. Doctors expect him to fully recover in time to return to school in September, said his mother, Rosemary Redmond.

Number of Ceremonies

Despite his difficulties, Redmond has been well enough to attend a number of ceremonies honoring him for his heroism.

He has received awards from three Lions Clubs in the San Fernando Valley and the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors. After the boy returned home, the marquee at his high school said: “Michael Redmond, our hero. He saved a life.”

Redmond attended Providence High School in Burbank until the accident forced him to miss the remainder of the school year. He plans to return there in the fall.

Melford, a computer security consultant, said his doctors at first issued a very guarded prognosis. But he said he has been improving better than expected and may soon be allowed to leave the hospital for the first time to spend a night at his parents’ home in Mission Viejo. His father, Sidney G. Melford, said he may be allowed to return home for good as early as mid-June.

“There was damage to the underlying tissue, so it was a much more serious thing” than a simple skull fracture, the senior Melford said. “We were on the borderline of his never coming back or being totally crippled, but he’s recovering.”