CLARKSVILLE, TN (CLARKSVILLE NOW) – There was a happy ending to a precarious situation late last night, thanks to one daughter’s quick thinking when her 80-year-old mother went missing on a kayaking trip.
Around 5 or 6 p.m. on the Fourth of July, an 80-year-old woman and her companion went kayaking on Big West Fork Creek.
At 9:51 p.m., when the woman’s daughter hadn’t heard from her in four or five hours, she called 911, and Clarksville Fire Rescue was dispatched to find them, Clarksville Fire Rescue Capt. Jim Eley said.
“During a brief conversation the daughter had with her, her mother said she was still on the water, but had no idea where,” Eley told Clarksville Now.
“The daughter was able to finally to locate her mother’s general location using an app used by most iPhone users called Find My Friends,” Eley said, noting a screenshot of the map and the location assisted responders in locating the lost kayakers.
“We knew they were not past West Fork Bridge at the 101st,” Eley said. “We got Station 10 to put in a swift water raft.”
Eley said several water rescue units responded to the call, including an airboat.
They located the couple at 10:23 p.m. “The (lost) kayakers got there first, and then the airboat 8 to 10 minutes later,” he said.
The woman and her family declined to be interviewed.
“There was no medical emergency and no physical emergency,” he said. “It was just the age of the woman and the fact it was dark.”
“Just to put a little PSA out there, for anyone with plans on getting in the water, know where you are going, what time you plan on being back, and watch the alcohol,” Eley said.
Correction: The swift water craft was from Station 10, and CFR did not respond with kayaks. The article has been updated.