Local

Watercraft wreck on Lake Norman sends 2 to hospital

IREDELL COUNTY, N.C. — Two men were hospitalized Monday after a boating crash on Lake Norman in Mooresville.

The men, in their 20s, wrecked their personal watercrafts near mile marker 6 on the lake in an area called No Man's Land, according to wildlife officers.
 
Officers said they were driving erratically when one of the water crafts crossed in front of the other, knocking both drivers into the water.
 
Peter Darlington said he and his wife were on their own personal watercrafts when they saw both men hanging onto their damaged watercrafts.
 
He immediately called 911 and brought the men to shore on a pontoon boat.
 
"We used the pontoon boat to get the gentlemen out," Darlington said. "The one gentleman was hurt pretty significantly."

Darlington, a Charlotte firefighter, said the men tried to explain what happened and he could tell they were in shock.

Darlington said he's glad there were two other paramedics and a nurse on the boat.

They used makeshift resources until medics arrived.

"We wound up using what we had on the pontoon,” Darlington said. “We had to split one of the boys legs.”

Wildlife officers said the crash is still under investigation.
 
One man was airlifted to Carolinas Medical Center and the other is at Lake Norman Regional Medical Center.

Both are expected to be OK.