Man dies after electric shock in boat incident

6/18/2017

PUT-IN-BAY, Ohio — A 19-year-old man from suburban Columbus died Friday evening after he was shocked by an electrical current in the water around his family’s boat as it was moored at a Put-in-Bay marina.

Evan Currie was pronounced dead in Port Clinton, according to the Ohio Department of Natural Resources, whose Division of Parks and Watercraft is investigating the incident. Eric Heis, an ODNR spokesman, said he is believed to have died from a combination of the electrical shock and drowning.

The Currie family had docked its boat at Miller Marina about 6:30 p.m. and plugged shore power into the boat, according to the report. When the family dog fell into the water, it began to struggle for an unknown reason, and when family patriarch Jeffrey Currie jumped in to assist the dog, he too began to struggle.

The family’s two sons then jumped in and began to struggle as well, at which point bystanders told their mother, who was not named in the report, to unplug the shore power to the boat, ODNR said. When she did so, the electric current stopped.

While the others reboarded the boat, Evan Currie was non-responsive and convulsing. Cardiopulmonary resuscitation was started and he was transported to the mainland, ODNR said.

Mr. Heis said an electrician summoned by ODNR checked the shore-power wiring on the dock and found everything to be in proper working order. Investigators were checking the boat late Saturday to determine if it was the problem’s source, he said.

No one else was injured, nor was the dog, Mr. Heis said.

“The entire staff at Miller Marina is deeply saddened by the tragic death of a guest at our marina last night. Our hearts and prayers go out to the family of Evan Currie,” the marina said in a statement issued Saturday.