SKANEATELES, N.Y. — The 8-year-old daughter of a Cortland County man is in critical condition after she and her father were struck by a boat while tubing on Skaneateles Lake Wednesday night, according to the Onondaga County Sheriff's Office.
Shortly before 6 p.m., sheriff's deputies and rescue personnel from the Skaneateles Fire Department were called to a boating accident on the lake near the State Boat Launch off West Lake Road.
Deputies investigating the accident say that a 17-foot Bayliner boat was towing an inner tube that was occupied by Christopher Driscoll, 32, of Homer, and his 8-year-old daughter, Kaelynne, when the tube struck a wake and ejected the father and daughter into the water. As the operator of the Bayliner circled back around, the boat's propeller struck the pair, the sheriff's office said in a news release.
A nearby boater saw the accident and brought them to shore at the State Boat Launch. Kaelynne sustained head trauma and injuries to her lower extremities. and was transported by SAVES Ambulance to Upstate University Hospital, where she is listed in critical condition. Her father was also transported to the same hospital, though his injuries are not considered to be life-threatening, deputies said.
Onondaga County sheriff's detectives and deputies assigned to the Sheriff's Navigation Unit are continuing to investigate the accident. The sheriff's office has not released the name of the boat operator and the passengers aboard the boat, citing an ongoing investigation.
