Emergency personnel from the Gros Islet fire station rushed a young woman to a medical facility after a jet ski incident at the Rodney Bay beach on Good Friday.
The woman was in critical condition.
The Gros Islet fire station received an emergency call at about 4:28 pm.
The President of the Saint Lucia Lifesaving Association Ezra Small confirmed receiving a report regarding the jet ski incident.
“What was reported to me was that a young woman was bathing at the Rodney Bay beach and she got hit by a jet ski and was taken to the hospital in a very bad condition,” Small told St Lucia Times.
On beach safety, he noted that as the economy bounces back from the COVID-19 pandemic and travel increases, beaches, especially in the North of Saint Lucia, have become overcrowded.
And he said although hotels demarcate swimming areas for guests, people use the entire beach.
“There are no boundaries on the beach for people who are not in one of the hotels, so they are actually swimming in an open area,” the Saint Lucia Lifesaving Association President observed.
At the same time, Small explained that people rent jet skis and use small vessels among tourists and locals at the beach to earn a livelihood.
He said this was a cause for concern.
“We have been talking among ourselves as lifeguards and saying that this needs to be looked at,” Small disclosed.
Headline stock photo courtesy Marc Babin (Unsplash.com)
I was sitting on the beach near the ramp with my family two weekends ago and was very concerned to see how these hooligans were operating their jet ski rentals near the beach. I say hooligans because that was how they were behaving. Fighting over patrons, endangering patrons with rentals when the shore breaks were too large to be safe for them to get on the jet skis but the worse offence was the speed they were operating their jet skis at so close to the shore. I commented to the people I was with and said it would only be a matter of time before they ran over a swimmer. There is no demarcation for water vessels to enter the shore but if there was, swimmers would know not to be in that area. It should be like a lane for them to get in an out but that doesn’t exist. This was only a matter of time. This country sometimes feels like it’s running itself. There is no one (with common sense) looking at situations and being proactive. Everything is a reaction. If you’re not vigilant in this place when it comes to day to day life (and crime) you’re just setting yourself up for trouble. This is truly a banana republic.
” ,,, “We have been talking among ourselves as lifeguards and saying that this needs to be looked at,” Small disclosed. ….
Talking among yourselves? This means you have SEEN what is going on with people not using jet skis properly, and did NOTHING about it …. instead of nipping the problem in the bud!! Thankfully, we hope, the young lady’s injuries are not life threatening.
DO something about this “problem” NOW!!
People on jet skis are as lawless and show offs as some ppl with drivers license.
The woman was in the water by the boats when the incident happened! I know because I was there. She was severely injured, and when they brought her back to shore they had to administer CPR for over 10 minutes becaus she was no longer breathing. This is a tragedy caused by absolute recklessness.
I saw this accident. This was Reduit Beach, the women was having a ride with another person in a float (minor) that was pull by a small embarkation. They where moving slowly. When a jet-ski went fast above them. All three person fly literally to water. There were no marks or divisions for embarkations, swimming or others. This was an accident that could have being prevented! You have the responsibility to take care of the tourists and the people! The tourists that were doctors were trying to revive her for more than 25 minutes. The ambulance was late! With a beach full of people you should have emergency care near! The scene was very horrible and sad. I hope that family have a lot of strength to cope with this situation.
Great, right before jazz. Where are the life guards or cordoned areas for swimming? This is the 3rd time in 4 years something like this is happening on that beach.
Oh well this is not the first and won be the last. This happened in Cancun the other day where there are tourist and water sports shhhhht will happen That Alex Webb just irritate me with his political synapses stop bashing the country FOOL this is not the first for St Lucia this also happened years ago if I can recall. There will always be that risk during recreational activities at the beach one just has to be mindful of their surroundings and swim at your own risk..jet skies are in high demand in tourist areas I don’t see them going away anytime soon.
It was a sad and beautiful thing I personally witnessed today, how mankind came to each other rescue on that scene. Tourists black ,white, no shade local . I have made love , I have felt love…. But today , love was pouring from all angles to one of my kind. ONE LOVE. All lives matters all race counts. To our guests on island, I give thanks and welcome . One ❤️ People
Unfortunately she has passed away from her injuries. She was DOA in the ambulance. May she rest in peace
This is the third incident in the past month.
The other 2 incidents were never mentioned.
One Jet ski passed within 6 inches of a man out swimming with his with at full speed. They waved at the jet ski and the rider just kept going. He would have died if he had been hit. They will not be coming back to the island.
The second incident was with the oŵner of the jet ski not looking where he was going and he hit à swimmer close to the beach. The man was taken to the hospital bleeding from his head.
The people renting out the jet ski’s are as responsible as the people renting them. They should not be in the bay at all. People are swimming and snorkeling in the bay.
I realize that the guys renting them are trying to make a living but at what expense? Does someone have to die before something is done? They should be banned altogether. It is not rocket science, just common sense people.
All water sports should be grounded in reduit and gros islet, the way these jet skis moving at 60 mph on the water no regard for people. Just about the cnote!!!…. Condolences to the family.
Update. She was from NY. Unfortunately passed away at the hospital. RIP
I am one of the family members. The person was not able to be saved and passed away from her injuries. If there is any other people who saw it please provide that to the authorities. Sounds like it was pretty chaotic.
The jet skis at that time were acting as irresponsible idiots blasting back and fro just outside swimming zones, hitting wakes of others. I told my wife to take care. I hope the rider is caught and imprisoned.
Saint Lucia is a one big frigging joke. We make a bigger scene about access to beaches than we do about safe use of our beaches. We make a bigger scene about people’s right to earn a living than about how the exercise of that right compromises our lives. Check out the junction of Brazil Street and High Street and you will see a tent outside FICS that eats up the entire sidewalk, forcing pedestrians to walk under either the tent or in the road. This is lawlessness pure and simple. But we like it so! And we wonder why crime is out of control? If Looshans were really concerned about lives, this would not have happened. These jet ski fellas are laws unto themselves. Who controls them? Cars must be inspected annually to be on the road. You must have at least third party insurance. Does any of that apply to jet skis? You get a ton of cuss words from these fellas if you tell them they’re too close. I am pissed off about this deadly accident as it could have been avoided. I send my sympathies to the family of the deceased. St Lucia is a pappyshow!
St Lucia is a serious joke. A huge blag! We make a bigger scene about access to beaches than about safe use of beaches. We insist that people have a right to earn their living but we don’t give two hoots if they put our lives at risk in the process. Check out the sidewalks on Jeremie Street outside the old Government printery and outside of FICS st the corner of Micoud and High Street. They’re a tent there that takes up the entire sidewalk forcing people to either walk under the tent or on the sidewalk. These jet ski fellas are laws unto themselves. If you complain they are too close, you get a ton of cuss words. But we like it so. And then we wonder why crime is out of control? Do these guys have insurance like cars on our roads? Do they have operator licenses? Who monitors them? I am really pissed about this accident. It could have been avoided if we were not one BIG pappyshow. Mwen fashay!
I would to express our deepest sympathies to the family for their loss?
Set boundaries, have a designated area for jet ski rentals and operation.
I am so sorry for the family. May she rip
So sad 😞 but there is no control in St Lucia at present times 😢
the JA is coming out and saying they have been talking among themselves about the foreseen tragedy but they not doing nothing about it smh. and they have you as president of what again ?
Damn right Blacksmith. This place is about to collapse. You can’t have law without order. Those criticising the police and judiciary are the ones adding to the lawlessness and disorder. Vehicles park on sidewalks forcing pedestrians to risk their lives walking along the roads. People setting up vending stalls wherever they choose without regard to anyone else. Bars selling liquor wherever they want. Music blasting next to people’s homes. St. Lucia is very near a failed state. Lawlessness breeds lawlessness. Tom witness Dick suffering no consequences for not following rules and regulation. Tom follows Dick. Harry witnesses Tom not following rules and regulation suffering no consequences. Harry follows Tom. This country is well on its way to collapse.
I am a family member from NY. If anyone can please give further insight into the incident it would be appreciated. We arr really try to put things together and don’t know what can be done. So far we have heard the driver is in custody
@Lisa or any other family members of the victim (may she rest in peace). Can you please provide a way for witnesses to get in touch with you to share details of what transpired? Would love to assist.
Unfortunately, this could have been my family’s story, too. We were swimming at reduit when a “big mable” operator swung the floating craft less than a foot away from my husband, who was pissed! The operator never uttered a word, no apology and no remorse. He just kept carrying on. We went to the police and they did NOTHING.
Anyone with information. Who witnessed the horrible critical Accident Friday April 7, 2023 that involved my family members please email me: Sistalinks4u@gmail.com
Prayers to my friend and her family during this time 🙏🏽🙏🏽
The responsible party needs to understand this was negligent homicide and needs to be charged for this horrible preventable incident.
I am not sure this is the place to be bashing the island or all operators of Jetski. There’s has been hundreds of thousands of visitors to the island and this has not happened before . Considering they require the jet ski operators to go to schools to qualify for their license etc I would also put it onto slaspa to put some rules in place regarding how close to shore the Jetski can operate and all water sports . The people who work on the beach need an income and tourists like to ride Jetski. Blame the hotels for not wanting to pay for a lifeguard or slaspa for not organizing the beaches properly . Some of the comments feel like it’s a bunch of hating trolls coming on her disrespecting the island and all the positives about it . My condolences to the family who lost their family member .
from
Anonymous April 9, 2023 At 4:16 pm
I am not sure this is the place to be bashing the island or all operators of Jetski. There’s has been hundreds of thousands of visitors to the island and this has not happened before . Considering they require the jet ski operators to go to schools to qualify for their license etc I would also put it onto slaspa to put some rules in place regarding how close to shore the Jetski can operate and all water sports . The people who work on the beach need an income and tourists like to ride Jetski. Blame the hotels for not wanting to pay for a lifeguard or slaspa for not organizing the beaches properly . Some of the comments feel like it’s a bunch of hating trolls coming on her disrespecting the island and all the positives about it . My condolences to the family who lost their family member .”
You are the troll here.
Because its already happened several times just read comments
“Concerned tourist April 8, 2023 At 6:23 am
This is the third incident in the past month.
The other 2 incidents were never mentioned.
One Jet ski passed within 6 inches of a man out swimming with his with at full speed. They waved at the jet ski and the rider just kept going. He would have died if he had been hit. They will not be coming back to the island.
The second incident was with the oŵner of the jet ski not looking where he was going and he hit à swimmer close to the beach. The man was taken to the hospital bleeding from his head.
The people renting out the jet ski’s are as responsible as the people renting them. They should not be in the bay at all. People are swimming and snorkeling in the bay.
I realize that the guys renting them are trying to make a living but at what expense? Does someone have to die before something is done? They should be banned altogether. It is not rocket science, just common sense people.”
And by the way those rental jetski people never went to school since after the accident, they all left the crime scene, nobody was interrogated.. So i am pretty sure hooligans hold these business, with no insurances policies / no real business company ….
This island seems to be an anarchic island since no bounderies between swimmers/ jetski / tourists boat….
You should start there before telling who is guilty or not since your country only income is tourism…. So secure tourism or people will stop coming to your island