Mother Dead, Child Injured In FL Keys Parasailing Accident

MARATHON, FL — A young mother visiting the Florida Keys from a Chicago suburb was killed on Memorial Day after a parasail cable snapped, slamming her and her two sons into a bridge.

She was declared dead at the scene. One of her sons was brought to a hospital in Miami for treatment while the other suffered minor injuries, according to NBC Chicago.

Before hitting Seven Mile Bridge near Pigeon Key in Marathon, they plunged into the water and were dragged for about a mile, Florida Keys News reported.

A boat captain in the area when they hit the bridge helped to cut them free from the cable and brought them first responders using Sunset Grill, a nearby restaurant, as a staging area.

The boat captain, John Callion, posted about the incident to his Facebook page, calling it “life changing.” He said he saw the victims parasailing into a storm around 5:30 p.m.

“It went from flat, calm conditions to blowing 30 mph in a matter of seconds. I knew right away the outcome was going to be bad. Sure enough, the line connected to the parasail broke,” he wrote. “As I continued to watch It was very obvious the parasail boat needed help as they were chasing down the parasail with three people connected to it. The parasail was heading for the Seven Mile Bridge (at) a high rate of speed. They probably traveled a distance between (one to two) miles. At first and from a distance, the bridge seemed to be a saving grace to stop the parasail from traveling any further. Unfortunately, the victims made contact with the wing wall section of the bridge, and it was at a high rate of speed.”

Callion said he cut the victims’ harnesses to free them from their chute, which was hanging from the bridge, and his passengers performed CPR on them. The mother and one boy were unconscious by the time he got to them.

The parasail company involved in the accident was Lighthouse Parasail Inc., the Florida Fish and Wildlife Commission told Local 10 News.

According to the company’s Facebook page, it’s based in the Outer Banks of North Carolina with a winter location in the Florida Keys.