Kathleen Miskell, 28, Dies In Florida Parasailing Accident [Video]
Pompano Beach, FL – Authorities say a 28-year-old woman died late Wednesday afternoon after falling as much as 200 feet from a parasail into the Atlantic Ocean.
The victim, identified as Kathleen Miskell of Wethersfield, Connecticut, was parasailing in tandem with her husband Stephen about 3:15 pm when her harness broke and plunged to the water below. The husband, whose harness did not break, was reeled in by the boat operators who then circled back to recover his wife.
“She fell between 150 and 200 feet face-down into the ocean, and that’s like hitting a brick wall, and the husband unfortunately had to witness it,” Pompano Beach Mayor Lamar Fisher told NBCMiami.com.
According to CBSNews, the boat’s captain performed CPR on Miskell but was unable to revive her. Upon the arrival of paramedics, Mrs. Miskell was transported in critical condition to Broward Health North where she was pronounced dead.
The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission and the Broward Sheriff’s Office are investigating the incident. Investigators spent hours interviewing employees from WaveBlast Water Sports, the company that owned the boat.
The CTPost reports that Kathleen Miskell’s death is the second parasailing related fatality off Pompano Beach in recent years. In the summer of 2007, Amber May White of Summerfield, Florida was parasailing with her sister off Pompano when the line snapped in high winds, allowing the girls to be slammed onto the roof of a hotel
An investigation revealed that the operator had ignored a thunderstorm warning.
NECN has more on the tragic Florida parasailing accident that claimed Kathleen Miskell’s life below:
