Father, son hit by boat
BY ROBERT SILK Free Press Staff
rsilk@keysnews.com
An 11-year-old boy was in emergency surgery and his father hospitalized after being run over by their charter vessel's propellers while diving Tuesday morning, according to a state wildlife agency spokesman.
Calvin Adkins, 39, of Harrington, Del., and his 11-year-old son were airlifted to Miami in serious condition.
The child was in emergency surgery at Miami Children's Hospital as of 6 p.m., Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission spokesman Bobby Dube said. The father was at Baptist Hospital.
The son's injuries were more severe than his father's, he added.
"They were both alive when they left here, but we heard that the son is not doing too well," Dube said Tuesday afternoon.
The two apparently were run over by the 46-foot Big Dipper, of the Florida Keys Dive Center in Tavernier, about 9 a.m. just after getting in the water near Conch Reef, nine miles south of Key Largo.
Investigators don't know why the boat hit Adkins and his son, Dube said. It was unclear whether they jumped in before the boat's captain and crew had given them clearance.
Florida Keys Dive Center owner Tom Timmerman did not respond to The Citizen's phone call seeking comment Tuesday afternoon.
The Adkins family was among charter customers beginning a "drift" dive, in which divers move with the current rather than staying in one area.
The Coast Guard, the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, and the Monroe County Sheriff's Office are investigating the incident, according to a press release from the Coast Guard.