A Milton-Freewater man died Friday evening from injuries suffered by a motorboat propeller.
The Umatilla County Sheriff’s Office said Benjamin Ryan Camden, 41, was tubing with friends at the McKay Reservoir in Pendleton when the accident occurred around 6:13 p.m. According to the sheriff’s office, Camden was in the water and attempting to get back into the board when the boat’s transom ladder broke.
Camden was unable to pull himself into the boat and instead decided to hold onto the starboard handrail while the operator headed toward the boat ramp at a slow rate of speed.
At some point, Camden lost his grip and slid under the boat sustaining serious injuries to his lower left leg by propeller cuts. He was assisted to shore by other nearby boaters and loaded into a private vehicle which met with medics near the reservoir entrance. He was transported to St. Anthony Hospital, where he later died from his injuries.
