LOVELL, Maine — A 15-year-old girl’s leg was severed in a boating accident on Kezar Lake on Tuesday afternoon, according to the Maine Warden Service.
The girl’s father, 44-year-old Robert Mueller of Houston, Texas, was driving a speedboat full of six family members and pulling two inner tubes when the boat hit a submerged rock around 2:45 p.m., according to the warden service.
During the crash, a 13-year-old boy was being towed on a tube, a 10-year-old boy was sitting in the rear of the boat, three teenage girls were sitting in the bow and Mueller was driving, according to the warden service.
Upon impact, all three girls were ejected from the boat, including Mueller’s 15-year-old daughter, who the warden service identified as Abby.
Abby flew over the front of the boat, which then drove over her, severing her leg between her ankle and knee with the running propeller, according to the warden service.
Lowell Fire Chief Tom McKenzie said Robert Mueller received minor injuries when he hit his head on the windshield.
The girl was flown by LifeFlight to Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston.
The warden service said that after the crash, the family-owned 24-foot Correct Craft inboard fiberglass motorboat was driven to a dock at Quisisana Resort on Pleasant Point Road in Middle Bay, taking on water through a hole in the hull.
The northwest side of the island was marked with five hazard buoys. The boat struck a rock inside the marked hazard area, according to the warden service.
The 10-year-old boy and 13-year-old girl are Mueller’s son and daughter. The 13-year-old boy on the tube and the other 15-year-old girl are brother and sister and cousins to Mueller’s children, the warden service said.
The family was staying at a camp on the lake.
Only the girl and her father were reportedly injured. Sgt. Dave Chabot of the Maine Warden Service is in charge of the investigation.
It is not believed that alcohol was involved.
The Sun Journal contributed to this report.
To see more from the Sun Journal, visit sunjournal.com.
What a horrid story, but I guess one that needs to be told. I wish the best to the father and daughter.
My prayers go out to this family. I have boated on Maine lakes for over 50 years. I have had a few hits on lakes I have boated on for years in areas where I have traversed many many times before. My heart aches for them. For those that want to judge we were not there.
Oh my gosh! I wish the very best for this little girl. My prayers are with you!
ban silly comments.
I think wolly was making a joke on the firework ban because everyone that get hurts using them saids they should get banned so it went right over your head
I like it ,,, right over your head… isnt that where they are supposed to go?
Ban sarcasm!
in that case we better ban the BDN!
Oh this poor family. The poor girl! The poor dad! The poor family members who witnessed this tragedy! The poor responders. Ugghhhh. Bad situation for everyone and best wishes to all.
How sad.
did they recover the leg? can they reattach? my grandsons hand was reattached two weeks ago at mass general. they are miracle workers.
5 orange buoys that say rock or hazard. ugh, here’s your sign. I do hope they can reattach the leg, sounds like everyone was wearing their pfd as they all surfaced after the hit. be aware of your surroundings, pay attention to where your going . that’s why we have observers in the boat when towing.
Really??If its marked,than its just misconduct that caused all of the mayhem.Not an accident…awful…
sad
I’ve spent a large portion of my life on Maine lakes and considering how most people operate their boats I am surprised there isn’t a story like this everyday.
Its hard to get people to look where their going instead of where they have been …its an accident as he did not intentionally hit the rocks.. but with that much family onboard he should have much more vigilant in their safety and his own. especially with kids on the bow. now he and his daughter have some issues to work out.. sarcasm or not the buoys could have said “mines” and he still would have missed it or hit it depends on your thinking.. He wasn’t watching where he was going. nuff said.
Hoping for a speedy recovery for the girl.
Does that really need to be said? I would say the whole family is traumatized enough without callous and flippant remarks.
People want to ban things that people can get hurt at so ban motor boats how many people get kill every year in motor boat accidents ?
not as many as just swimming. want to ban swimming too? then what bathtubs? to save our celebrities? :-Þ
ouchhhh
It’s pretty tricky in boats in maine. there are rocks and ledges sticking out, or just under the water in lakes, ponds, and the ocean. Visitors need to be sooo careful. What a tragedy for these people. Hmmm, slow down!
speed wasn’t an issue here.. it was knowing how to operate your watercraft safely around a marked hazard zone. the coast guard and the Maine website and Google can tell anyone what those hazard markers and channel ones are and what to do. print it and keep for reference, its that simple . could save you and arm and a leg.
actually tufnoogies, you are right. I remember reading that in the article. I have seen so many visitors to Maine, here on the coast racing around, going over rocks and ledges(and somehow making it) and going up on ledges. The best “captain’s” are people have grown up on those waters. Well, may God bless them all.
I just hope it wasn’t a bravo III type drive.. if it was, there would be little hope of reattachment , counter rotating props would leave little to salvage. That’s after the bacterial problem of a severed limb being submerged in lake water. The poor girl has some steep odds to beat.
we’ll have to wait and see. I have been amazed at how the human body can survive incredible accidents. Let’s hope for the best. May God bless, help. and heal her!
Hmm, a vacation they’ll never forget.