A Brentwood woman was tragically killed last Thursday evening after a gruesome boating accident near Hurricane Marina on Center Hill Lake.

According to the Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency, officers responded to a call on Center Hill Lake at 5:58 p.m. The DeKalb County Fire Department, Smithville/DeKalb County Rescue Squad, DeKalb County Emergency Medical Service, and DeKalb County Sheriff’s Department, responded to the scene which was in the middle of the channel and could only be reached by boat.  Hurricane Marina staff, and a Putnam County Rescue Squad Dive Team also responded to the incident to render aid.

There, they found the victim, 57-year-old Mary Beth Foran, with devastating injuries. Foran had reportedly lost her hat and jumped into the water from a Monterey ski boat to retrieve it. Unknowingly, the boat’s operator had put the vessel in reverse. Foran was impaled by the props and had become entangled in the blades. 

Rescuers say they found the boat’s operator in the water, trying to help Foran as they arrived. Unfortunately, the woman succumbed to her injuries. The boat reportedly had to be towed back to the marina and lifted out of the water in order to free Foran from the blades.

The incident is being investigated by the Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency. This is the 13th boating related fatality this year in Tennessee. The incident remains under investigation.