Houseboat Propeller Fatality on Shuswap: Andrea Jacura
Andrea Jacura image from FaceBook
Eleven people were on the houseboat at the time of the accident, several of them were her family members. The houseboat operator was not aware she was back there when they backed the houseboat over her. Rescuers were dispatched about 2:45pm, including life flight, but she was dead at the scene.
A local constable reported, “Her left leg was amputated and she had severe trauma to her torso and was basically deceased at the scene.” BC Coroners Service said had just entered the water at the time of the accident.” He went on to say the boat operator was in process of docking the boat on the beach at the time of the accident.
While details are sketchy, it sounds like she may have jumped in while the boat was being beached, the boat operator reversed the boat during that process, and she was killed by the propeller. News reports do not specifically identify the houseboat as a rental, but Shuswap is known as a major rental houseboat vacation destination.
The Edmonton Journal reports Andrea Jacura worked summers for a landscaping company as part of group of young women mowing lawns. She recently found a job in Australia and was preparing to move. FaceBook reports she also works for Boston Pizza in Edmonton.
Being struck by a houseboat propeller coming on or of a beach is a common houseboat propeller accident scenario. We previously covered houseboat propeller accidents in depth in our report on the U.S. Coast Guard rejecting a proposed houseboat propeller safety regulation several years ago. At that time, we also created a list of houseboat propeller accidents. We have since identified several more, and note there have already been at least two on Lake Shasta this summer.
UPDATES
18 July 2015 – todays InfoNews.ca Vernon discusses the similarities in the Jacura fatality and the Christine Hingley houseboat propeller fatality 22 years ago (July 2, 1993 on Shuswap). Including an interview with a friend with Christine Hingley on the day of her accident. The Hingley accident was also a reversing houseboat.