Two women were hospitalized after they were both ejected from a WaveRunner that crashed into a boat on Pistakee Lake near the Village of Fox Lake Thursday afternoon.
The Fox Lake Fire Protection District and Lake County Sheriff’s Office responded around 3:51 p.m. Thursday to the area of Cedar Island on Pistakee Lake outside of the Village of Fox Lake for a report of a water rescue.
Lake County Sheriff’s Office Chief Christopher Covelli said the sheriff’s Marine Unit arrived in less than six minutes.
They located a crashed personal watercraft near the island.
A preliminary investigation showed that an older model Yamaha WaveRunner was being operated by a 20-year-old woman from Pennsylvania.
The watercraft, which had a 21-year-old Libertyville woman on the passenger seat, was traveling in a southern direction, Covelli said.
The two women were on the east side of Cedar Island riding the Yamaha when the operator attempted to maneuver around a buoy.
Covelli said the operator lost control of the vessel when she disengaged the throttle, causing it to crash into a pontoon boat.
The pontoon boat had been unoccupied and was docked at Cedar Island when it was struck.
Both the operator and passenger were ejected from the Yamaha, Covelli said.
The driver landed on the pontoon deck and sustained substantial but non-life-threatening injuries, Covelli said. The passenger suffered a minor hip injury.
Firefighters and paramedics transferred both to shore to awaiting ambulances and they were transported to Advocate Condell Medical Center in Libertyville.
The incident remains under investigation by the Lake County Sheriff’s Office Marine Unit.