Stand up paddleboards float on Kalamalka Lake in Coldstream.

Image Credit: SUBMITTED / Courtney Willier

A Vernon woman was injured and mentally shaken up after getting hit by a speedboat while paddleboarding with a friend on Kalamalka Lake Sunday evening.

The incident happened at roughly 6:30 p.m., Aug. 10, when Courtney Willier and her friend were about to head to shore.

“We were sitting on our boards, not that far out, and my friend was facing in the direction of an oncoming speedboat while my back was turned,” Willier said. “She started yelling and I looked back. It was coming fast where the front of the boat was lifting up which is why the driver couldn’t see us. There was a lady at the front but she was looking at the beach.”

Willier said before she knew it, the speedboat was almost on top of her, and while her friend jumped off her board to safety, Willier froze in fear.

“It all happened really fast. The board helped me because it hoisted me off to the side,” she said. “I think if I’d have jumped, I’d have gone under the boat.”

Willier’s board had been flung and the straps and bag attached to it ripped off. She clung onto her friend’s board. The boat carrying several adults and children did a U-turn and stopped a distance away.

“They were watching us, staring and probably talking amongst themselves wondering what to do,” Willier said. “I was waiting for them to help us.”

Two kind strangers paddled out from the beach to help.

“One of them (strangers) was yelling at the boaters and held his phone up to record them and I think they must’ve seen that and sped off,” she said.

At first, Willier wasn’t certain if she had been struck by the speedboat but that night her back, shoulder and arm was aching. She doesn’t think she hit her head went to Vernon Jubilee Hospital for a checkup Monday to be sure.

She filed a report with Vernon North Okanagan RCMP but the boaters haven't been identified yet.

“I had high hopes they were going to show us some humanity and help us,” she said. “It was disappointing they didn’t do anything. That was the scariest thing that has ever happened to me.” 

Kalamalka Lake is a popular destination for swimmers, paddlers and boaters. This is the third summer Willier has enjoyed paddleboarding and the first time she has had an incident with other lake users.

“Boaters are everywhere and often going fast so I watch and look around if I hear one,” she said. “Other paddlers are saying this kind of thing is common. It’s not just on the boaters, it’s up to everyone to be vigilant. This is a reminder for everyone to pay attention and look after one another.”

She said she is grateful to be alive, and won’t let the incident deter her from enjoying paddleboarding in the future.

The boat was white or beige with black strips near the bottom and something bright red attached to the back.

Willier is asking anyone with information on the boaters to contact her here.

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