Unmanned Jet Ski Strikes Boy's Kayak, Knocking him Unconscious

» Get Patch’s daily newsletter and real-time news alerts.

Rich and Susan Reising of Wixom watched a nightmarish scene play out Sunday afternoon after they had taken their 9-year-old son, Jacob, for his first kayaking adventure on Middle Straits Lake in West Bloomfield Township.

Sitting at a picnic table watching their children play in the water about 5:40 p.m., they were horror-struck when they watched an unmanned, out-of-control jet ski as it sped toward Jacob’s kayak, hit it and knocked the boy unconscious.

Fortunately, a stranger who later identified himself as a naval doctor, was playing nearby in the water. When he carried Jacob’s lifeless body to the shore, Rich Reising feared the worst.

“I was not sure if he was alive,” the boy’s father told WDIV-TV. “For a few moments, I thought we had lost him.”

After the jet ski hit Jacob’s kayak, it crashed into a dock, according to a report from the Oakland County Sheriff’s Office, whose Marine Unit is assisting the West Bloomfield Township Police Department in the investigation of the crash.

The owner of the mechanically enhanced jet ski, a 30-year-old Waterford Township man, was reportedly working on it when the throttle suddenly accelerated. The jet ski hit an unoccupied boat, sending it airborne and into Jacob’s kayak as the boy and two of his friends made their way to shore.

When the doctor brought Jacob to the shore, others stepped forward to call 911 and perform CPR until an ambulance arrived. Jacob sustained a broken collarbone and concussion. He was released from Beaumont Royal Oak Hospital Monday.

The jet ski has been impounded, and the crash remains under investigation.

_____

Middle Straits Lake photo via Creative Commons