A woman was flown to the hospital with serious injuries after she was struck by a boat on the Fox River while on a tube with a 12-year-old girl.
The McHenry County Sheriff’s Office and Fox River Grove Fire Protection District responded around 6:30 p.m. Thursday to Picnic Grove Park, 598 Birch Lane in Fox River Grove, for a report of a water rescue.
McHenry County Sheriff’s Deputy Sandra Rogers said that a 24-foot Monterey boat, driven by Damon Kramer, 52, of Crystal Lake, was traveling northbound on the Fox River.
Kramer was pulling a tube behind the boat with a 12-year-old Crystal Lake girl and a woman visiting from Nevada on it.
Rogers said that Kramer drove his boat between a Pontoon boat, which was also traveling northbound, and a 16-foot SeaRay boat, which was traveling southbound.
Kramer turned his boat which caused the tube to veer into the path of the southbound SeaRay, causing the tube and the SeaRay to collide.
The 12-year-old girl on the tube was uninjured while the Nevada woman suffered serious injuries. She was rescued from the water by the fire department and brought to shore.
The woman was airlifted by a medical helicopter to Advocate Condell Medical Center in Libertyville. Her current condition was not immediately known.
Kramer was issued a citation for careless operation, Rogers said.