At least 16 people were taken to the hospital after two airboats in the Everglades carrying more than 30 people crashed Friday afternoon.
The crash happened around 3:15 p.m. near Ochopee in Collier County, according to reporting from the Miami Herald. One airboat had 20 people on board while the other carried 13 people.
Additional information, including what caused the boats to crash, was not readily available on Monday.
Following a $35 million renovation, La Concha in Key West has recently joined Marriott’s “Autograph Collection,” a signifier of upscale properties within the Marriot International portfolio.
The 160-room hotel, formerly known as Crowne Plaza La Concha, was under construction since at least October of last year and now features a refurbished bar, hotel lobby and restaurant. Included in the renovation were upgrades to the outside of the hotel, rooms, the pool area and meeting spaces.
While the addition of an upscale lodging property is a positive development for Key West’s thriving tourist economy, which welcomes millions of visitors annually, guests should remain cautious.
Evan Robinson, a Leesfield & Partners Trial Lawyer, secured a $350,000 settlement for a woman who shattered her hip as a result of a violent fall at a Monroe County tourist attraction.
Our client visited the popular tourist attraction while on vacation in the Keys with her husband. As the couple navigated the property’s narrow and crowded walkway, that was supposed to be flanked with gravel on both sides, our client stepped off the edge of the walkway and into a trench in an area where there was no gravel. As a result, our client lost her balance and fell violently onto the concrete ground, causing an injury that would forever alter her previously active lifestyle.
During the course of the litigation, Mr. Robinson learned that the walkway on which our client fell posed a dangerous hazard that was well-known to numerous employees and managers who worked at the attraction. Specifically, the frequent displacement of gravel caused by visitors constantly kicking it around resulted in the walkway repeatedly becoming unlevel. This recurring hazard presented such a serious danger that it required daily inspections and maintenance for over 16 years. In fact, every employee who worked at the attraction was instructed to keep watch over this area and bags of additional gravel were kept on site so that maintenance personnel could re-level the walkway when the gravel was displaced.
The nephew of famed surfer, Bethany Hamilton, was injured over the weekend in a Hawaii drowning incident. Now, the family is taking to social media to ask for help.
The incident took place on Oct. 11. The child was medevacked to a different hospital and “has fight in him,” his aunt wrote on social media.
“We are wrecked,” Hamilton said in the post shared to her Instagram account with over 2.4 million followers. “But I know how proper medical support can make or break someone’s chance of survival and in this case we’re asking for help from anyone who has information [on] what we can do to give my nephew the best chance.”
A woman pregnant with her second child and her husband have died following a snorkeling incident while on vacation in Maui.
The tragedy took place on Saturday, Sept. 14 just after noon on the north side of Ahihi-Kinau Natural Area Reserve, according to reporting from national news outlets.
The couple was out snorkeling while their oldest son, an 18-month-old, stayed with his aunt and uncle. The woman, 26-year-old Sophia Tsaruk, was allegedly found by a rescue team member on a jet ski who brought her to shore to begin CPR. Her husband, Ilya Tsaruk, 25, was found by firefighters with the Maui County Fire Department approximately 100-150 yards away from the shore.
The U.S. Coast Guard announced Friday that it was suspending its 8,462-square-mile search for a missing 70-year-old man following news of his boat being found abandoned, according to reporting from local news outlets.
Bert Erwin was on a 150-mile trip up Florida’s coast from Marco Island to Indian Rocks Beach and was reported missing Wednesday by a good Samaritan, according to a Coast Guard press release. The person who reported him missing told Coast Guard officials that Erwin was overdue to reach his destination, Indian Rocks Beach.
He was last seen Monday leaving Rose Marina on Marco Island.
An adult and child have died following a crash on a personal watercraft in Marathon, Florida, according to local news outlets reporting.
Emergency responders were called to the area near 15th Street Ocean around 6:45 p.m. after the personal watercraft crashed into a sea wall.
Police shared a photo of the mangled watercraft which was then published on various news outlet websites and social media. The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission is investigating the crash.
A summer chock-full of dangerous floods, prompting iterations of the famed “Florida man” floating down city streets in a canoe to gain traction online are not the only threats to the state during hurricane season.
Hurricane season lasts from June until November each year and while Floridians may poke fun at the situation online, there is always the potential risk of an upcoming storm during these months. The latest system inching near the coast is expected to become Tropical Storm Ernesto, if it continues to gain strength, according to meteorologists with the National Weather Service.
Puerto Rico, the Virgin Islands and more than a dozen other islands in the Caribbean are under a tropical storm warning as of Monday as forecasters continue to monitor a system strengthening over the Caribbean. The system, which, if it continues to gather strength, could become Tropical Storm Ernesto, is expected to bring increased rain and flash floods to the islands.
When June Smith lost her 13-year-old daughter, Harlie Smith, in a boat crash off of Cudjoe Key in 2017, she said she didn’t realize how unprepared they would be in an emergency, according to reporting from WSVN Miami.
“We’ve spent many years down in the Keys and that day, when I needed help, I didn’t realize you are helpless,” she said.
Harlie, who her mother described to WSVN reporters as an outgoing, happy child who loved the ocean, was in the water on Aug. 11, 2017, when a boat propeller hit her, causing a severe laceration to her leg. The boat, a 2017 Boston Whaler, was driven by Harlie’s father who did not know his daughter was behind him when he put the boat into reverse, according to previous reporting by local news outlets.
Leesfield & Partners proudly announces that the firm has secured $460,000 in combined settlements for two clients injured in separate Monroe County incidents.
The first of the two cases, both handled by Leesfield & Partners Trial Lawyer, Evan Robinson, took place in February of 2022 and resulted in serious injury to the client. The case was able to be settled with a $10,000 award for bodily injury and $100,000 in uninsured motorist policy coverage.
Uninsured motorist policies exist to protect injured drivers if the at-fault driver does not have coverage or cannot be identified, like in cases of a hit-and-run. This policy differs from under-insured motorist coverage which protects the injured driver if the at-fault driver’s policy cannot cover the full extent of the damages.
Key West Injury Lawyer Blog