It's a little known fact that hikers and picnickers, not paddlers, are the most likely accident victims at riverside parks. Thus, the two wading deaths occurring on well-known whitewater rivers this past summer are worthy of note. The Class III Saluda River in Columbia, SC rises quickly when the SCE&G power dam upstream releases, and people often become stranded. On July 22nd a woman was trapped on a midstream rock by rising water. The Columbia, SC State reported that 21 year-old Brian Shealy entered the river with two other men to assist her. The woman got ashore fine, but Mr. Shealy wedged his foot in a crack, lost his balance, and was pushed under water.
