Conservation and Recreation Division

 

For Immediate Release                                                  September 17, 2008

 

                  

 

HARPERS FERRY — A single-vessel boating accident on the Mississippi River near Harper’s Ferry Tuesday sent an Oelwein woman to the hospital with unspecified injuries.

 

Edna Shields, 68, was thrown from a boat driven by her husband, John Shields, 74, when the flat bottom fishing boat struck an unknown submerged object. The collision knocked the motor handle from John Shields’ hands, sending the boat into a spin and ejecting the woman. The boat then ran over the victim, cutting her with the prop. She was taken by Harpers Ferry Rescue officials to Prairie du Chien Memorial Hospital, and later airlifted to Gundersen Lutheran Hospital in La Crosse, Wis.

 

Reports indicated the accident happened around 2:15 p.m. in the McDonald Slough area of the Mississippi River near Harper’s Ferry.

 

State conservation Burt Walters, who is investigating the accident, said the woman sustained non-life threatening injuries. He also said life jackets were in the boat but were not being worn at the time of the accident. He pointed out the outcome could have been worse.

 

“She was a very lucky woman,” he said.

 

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For more information, contact Burt Walters at 563-880-0108, or Alan Foster at 515-210-6435.