MILLEDGEVILLE, Ga. (AP) — A man who went fishing for his 80th birthday was killed in a boat crash on a central Georgia lake, officials said.
George Ralph Harper of Eatonton was knocked unconscious Wednesday afternoon when another boat crashed into his vessel on Lake Sinclair near Milledgeville, The News & Observer reported. He was given CPR but later died from his injuries.
Another boat was coming out of a cove and the operator didn’t initially see Harper’s stationary boat, according to a news release from the Georgia Department of Natural Resources.
“Once the operator saw the second vessel, he attempted to steer away, but he struck the fishing boat, rendering a passenger in that boat unconscious and not breathing,” the release said.
Harper died of blunt-force trauma at a hospital, Baldwin County Chief Deputy Coroner Ken Garland told the newspaper.