Families were shaken yesterday at White Lake when a youngster was injured by the sheared remains of a navigational pole below the water’s surface, one that had been snapped the previous night by a boater.
The girl, age 10, was with her parents aboard the family’s boat. An accomplished swimmer and diver in her community’s recreational programs back home, she moved to the side of the boat and asked permission to dive into the lake.
Knowing the depth was more than 8 feet, both parents nodded approval.
Part of her body went directly into the jagged top of what was left of the pole. First responders reacted swiftly, reaching the scene and being credited by doctors as saving the girl’s life after a significant loss of blood.
Her prognosis for recovery is uncertain.
Summertime and White Lake are the perfect equation for fun in the sun. It’s been that way for all of our lifetimes.
The fictional account above scares us beyond what words can express. We do not mean to fan the flames of the irrational, or blow a molehill into a mountain — nothing of the sort.
Rather, we seek to show just one example of why responsibility is so incredibly important with the lake we all love and cherish.
Could the above happen? Absolutely it could.
As recently as last Saturday morning, and two other times this year. Three times navigational poles have been snapped.
Not a single one was reported as it should have been.
What happened in any of those instances is known to only a select few. Accident or recklessness, we can’t be certain.
One thing for which we are sure is that North Carolina State Parks tells us this summer’s incidents are not uncommon. The lake encompasses about 1,200 acres and has positions for 35 navigational aids. After last week’s snapped pole, there are now seven buoys and 28 poles — the markers on poles, officials say, being a much better visual help.
Nobody wants to be the “get off my lawn” — err, “get off my lake” — guy and nobody wants to hear about a horrific tragedy. What we all want is for everyone to have fun, to live and let live within reasonable expectations.
Our plea today is for the thousands of us who take advantage and enjoy White Lake to accept the responsibility that comes with that choice. We should follow the guidelines set out by those who govern the water and the land around it, that being the State Parks and the town.
The health of the lake threw a scare into all of us. Worrisome to most was the inability to control what was happening.
Those things we can control, we absolutely should.
Let’s accept responsibility, and keep White Lake the perfect equation for sun and fun.