I was saddened to hear of this news, and it's really gotten me thinking about how lucky I've been this year. Accidents happen, and they happen extremely fast.
I would consider myself an experienced angler, and an extremely efficient/experienced wader. I would also consider myself a very strong swimmer, with a past of water sports, competitive swimming and lifeguarding. Despite all these things, and despite going nearly 6 years without any problems, I've had 2 very dicey accidents this year - neither involved wading.
The first was late November. Myself and 2 buddies on a raft. We got pushed down a chute into a massive standing wave on a rock. The boat caught the top of the rock, and the current bucked the boat off the side. The boat rolled, and threw me and a buddy 15-20 feet right out into the class 4 white water. Despite being well prepared, we both took a long swim, bounced off boulders, and got washing machined a few times before finally getting out. Luckily I eventually got to the raft swimming aggressively downstream for it. My other buddy eventually hit a run around 150 yards downriver, and was able to stand up in the slower water near the side. He got way ahead of the raft despite my second buddy who managed to stay in the raft rowing aggressively after him. Had he not been able to stand up, it could have ended quite badly.
The second was just a week ago. Kitty and I were walking a large rock wall, on a very narrow ledge. As we got around halfway across, I became uneasy (it was much more slippery than I had expected), and told her we shouldn't do it. I took another step forward to get my footing and turn around, and my fears happened before I knew what was going on. My only thought going down was to not hit my head - so I protected it. I fell around 6-8 feet before landing on my hip, and then another 5 feet into a 10 foot deep pocket in a nasty set of white water. I had to swim hard to get out of the rotating pocket that was pushing me back into the top end of the white water. Had I hit my head, that would have probably been it for me, with Kitty watching from a helpless standpoint above. Despite my extremely strong swimming skills, and a very tight wading belt, swimming in that situation was extremely difficult. I finally got to a place where I could get my feet down, and worked my way out of the water, eventually crawling to dump out the water that had gone down my waders.
This drowning happened on a river that I wouldn't consider to be dangerous compared to the places I commonly find myself in. Both of my accidents were in water very comparable, or even worse than the tamihi rapids. This is a grave reminder to myself that I was extremely lucky, and that things can take a turn for the worst anywhere, even on a river like the Vedder which I'm extremely complacent on.
Play safe out there guys! Time for me to go get myself a couple throw ropes...