SHAPLEIGH, Maine — Maine wardens said a man died after he fell overboard and was run over by the boat that was operated by his twin brother Saturday night on Mousam Lake.
Authorities said 31-year-old Shapleigh resident Jeff Beattie was riding in the bow of a 17-foot motorboat when he fell out of the craft. The deadly boating accident happened in Carpenter Cove on the north end of the lake.
The family said the boat hit its own wake, bouncing Beattie out of the boat.
“The kids said they saw him hit a wave and it just shot him off the side of the boat,” neighbor Sam Horton said. “Probably happened in a split second.”
Maine wardens said it was likely less than a second from the time Beattie fell off the bow of the boat to when the boat ran him over. Not enough time, they said, for the boat operator to react.
A family member said Beattie managed to swim back to the boat. That’s when his wife, brother, sister-in-law and a friend realized how bad his injuries were. They quickly brought him to shore.
Horton and his son, Max Horton, were among several neighbors who ran over to help.
“I saw that his leg was very severely injured,” the younger Horton said. “So my dad told me to go grab a belt and a blanket. And we put tourniquets on his legs to stop the bleeding. He was cut pretty bad on his legs. He’d lost a lot of blood.”
“He was starting to go into shock,” Sam Horton said.
Despite their efforts, Beattie, a father to two young children, died of his injuries after being flown to Maine Medical Center.
Neighbors said dozens of boats spin around this cove on weekends, creating a lot of waves, but they believe it was just a terrible accident.
“They weren’t doing anything crazy or anything out of the ordinary,” Horton said. “It was tragic, really. I mean, everyone there was part of his family. And it was just heartbreaking.”
The accident remains under investigation. As is routine, authorities said a blood alcohol sample was taken from the operator of the boat.
A GoFundMe page has been set up to help with funeral expenses.