EXPERT KAYAKER DIES IN WHITEWATER ACCIDENT
From the White Mountain Independent vol.39 number56 July 16 1993 by Jo Baeza
SHOW LOW (Arizona) - Jeffrey Williams Birkinshaw of Lakeside, a physician assistant at Mc Nary Clinic, died July 11 in a whitewater accident on the Salt River.
Birkinshaw was kayaking with two friends about three miles upstream from the Salt River bridge when the river claimed his life. According to a friend at Mc Nary Clinic, Birkinshaw and his companions were all experienced well-trained kayakers. One companion, Joe Crozier, is an emergency medical technician; the other, John Connolly, is an orthopedic surgeon. "He loved the river. His spirituality came from the river," said Birkinshaw's wife, Suzanne. "He had extreme respect for the river. He never made stupid mistakes. They had all completed whitewater rescue courses. They did nothing wrong," she said, "it was just an accident".
The accident occurred about 5:15 p.m. Sunday, according to Suzanne Birkinshaw. She said that John and Joe were on the shore watching Jeffrey. He was too close to one side. so they threw him a rescue rope, as they had been trained to do. Suddenly, his boat flipped, he lost the rope and disappeared, she said. "There's a very large rock as big as a room. Under the rock was a space filled with debris. He was in a pocket of water with a very powerful current, called" a strainer". He got sucked out of his kayak and under the rock," she said.
She said his friends worked until they were exhausted to find him, but it had started to rain and was getting dark. " there was nothing they could do but finish running the river," she said. They went back to their cars and reported the accident on a car telephone.
Birkinshaw's wife said she learned of the accident about 11:30 p.m. Sunday night and then had to tell her younger children Heather, 10, and Michael ,7. The next day Dr. Ron Pagani offered his plane, the McNary Clinic supplied the fuel, and Darrell Purcell flew her to a Boy Scout camp near Williams so she could tell her oldest son, Christopher about the accident. "There's no way I can express my gratitude to all the people who helped me," she said.
Birkinshaw's body was recovered July 13. Services will be held at Grace Lodge on Penrod Way off Larson Road at 10 a.m. July 20
The Birkinshaw's lived in the White Mountains from 1985 to 1988, then moved to Roseburg, Ore. They returned in August 1992. Birkinshaw was active in Boy Scouts, serving as a cub master in Oregon and Lakeside, and a supporter of Girl Scouts. He founded a whitewater club in Oregon, and organized a chess club at Blue Ridge.
" The day he died, he told his friends it was the best time he'd ever had on the river," his wife said.
The Upper-Upper section of the Salt River is a class IV-V canyon that flows through the White Mountain Apache Reservation. It is extremely dangerous and has numerous undercut rocks. On July 11, 1993 a party of three kayakers attempted this section. The flow was only 200 cfs; 350 - 1,500 cfs is considered the normal range. The victim, Jeff Birkenshaw, 38, apparently broached on a rock. He caught a throw line, but flipped and exited his boat. He washed into a logjam stuck in an undercut rock. Even though a rope was still attached to his boat, rescuers were unable to pull it loose.
From the White Mountain Independent vol.39 number56 July 16 1993 by Jo Baeza
SHOW LOW (Arizona) - Jeffrey Williams Birkinshaw of Lakeside, a physician assistant at Mc Nary Clinic, died July 11 in a whitewater accident on the Salt River.
Birkinshaw was kayaking with two friends about three miles upstream from the Salt River bridge when the river claimed his life. According to a friend at Mc Nary Clinic, Birkinshaw and his companions were all experienced well-trained kayakers. One companion, Joe Crozier, is an emergency medical technician; the other, John Connolly, is an orthopedic surgeon. "He loved the river. His spirituality came from the river," said Birkinshaw's wife, Suzanne. "He had extreme respect for the river. He never made stupid mistakes. They had all completed whitewater rescue courses. They did nothing wrong," she said, "it was just an accident".
The accident occurred about 5:15 p.m. Sunday, according to Suzanne Birkinshaw. She said that John and Joe were on the shore watching Jeffrey. He was too close to one side. so they threw him a rescue rope, as they had been trained to do. Suddenly, his boat flipped, he lost the rope and disappeared, she said. "There's a very large rock as big as a room. Under the rock was a space filled with debris. He was in a pocket of water with a very powerful current, called" a strainer". He got sucked out of his kayak and under the rock," she said.
She said his friends worked until they were exhausted to find him, but it had started to rain and was getting dark. " there was nothing they could do but finish running the river," she said. They went back to their cars and reported the accident on a car telephone.
Birkinshaw's wife said she learned of the accident about 11:30 p.m. Sunday night and then had to tell her younger children Heather, 10, and Michael ,7. The next day Dr. Ron Pagani offered his plane, the McNary Clinic supplied the fuel, and Darrell Purcell flew her to a Boy Scout camp near Williams so she could tell her oldest son, Christopher about the accident. "There's no way I can express my gratitude to all the people who helped me," she said.
Birkinshaw's body was recovered July 13. Services will be held at Grace Lodge on Penrod Way off Larson Road at 10 a.m. July 20
The Birkinshaw's lived in the White Mountains from 1985 to 1988, then moved to Roseburg, Ore. They returned in August 1992. Birkinshaw was active in Boy Scouts, serving as a cub master in Oregon and Lakeside, and a supporter of Girl Scouts. He founded a whitewater club in Oregon, and organized a chess club at Blue Ridge.
" The day he died, he told his friends it was the best time he'd ever had on the river," his wife said.
The Upper-Upper section of the Salt River is a class IV-V canyon that flows through the White Mountain Apache Reservation. It is extremely dangerous and has numerous undercut rocks. On July 11, 1993 a party of three kayakers attempted this section. The flow was only 200 cfs; 350 - 1,500 cfs is considered the normal range. The victim, Jeff Birkenshaw, 38, apparently broached on a rock. He caught a throw line, but flipped and exited his boat. He washed into a logjam stuck in an undercut rock. Even though a rope was still attached to his boat, rescuers were unable to pull it loose.
EXPERT KAYAKER DIES IN WHITEWATER ACCIDENT
From the White Mountain Independent vol.39 number56 July 16 1993 by Jo Baeza
SHOW LOW (Arizona) - Jeffrey Williams Birkinshaw of Lakeside, a physician assistant at Mc Nary Clinic, died July 11 in a whitewater accident on the Salt River.
Birkinshaw was kayaking with two friends about three miles upstream from the Salt River bridge when the river claimed his life. According to a friend at Mc Nary Clinic, Birkinshaw and his companions were all experienced well-trained kayakers. One companion, Joe Crozier, is an emergency medical technician; the other, John Connolly, is an orthopedic surgeon. "He loved the river. His spirituality came from the river," said Birkinshaw's wife, Suzanne. "He had extreme respect for the river. He never made stupid mistakes. They had all completed whitewater rescue courses. They did nothing wrong," she said, "it was just an accident".
The accident occurred about 5:15 p.m. Sunday, according to Suzanne Birkinshaw. She said that John and Joe were on the shore watching Jeffrey. He was too close to one side. so they threw him a rescue rope, as they had been trained to do. Suddenly, his boat flipped, he lost the rope and disappeared, she said. "There's a very large rock as big as a room. Under the rock was a space filled with debris. He was in a pocket of water with a very powerful current, called" a strainer". He got sucked out of his kayak and under the rock," she said.
She said his friends worked until they were exhausted to find him, but it had started to rain and was getting dark. " there was nothing they could do but finish running the river," she said. They went back to their cars and reported the accident on a car telephone.
Birkinshaw's wife said she learned of the accident about 11:30 p.m. Sunday night and then had to tell her younger children Heather, 10, and Michael ,7. The next day Dr. Ron Pagani offered his plane, the McNary Clinic supplied the fuel, and Darrell Purcell flew her to a Boy Scout camp near Williams so she could tell her oldest son, Christopher about the accident. "There's no way I can express my gratitude to all the people who helped me," she said.
Birkinshaw's body was recovered July 13. Services will be held at Grace Lodge on Penrod Way off Larson Road at 10 a.m. July 20
The Birkinshaw's lived in the White Mountains from 1985 to 1988, then moved to Roseburg, Ore. They returned in August 1992. Birkinshaw was active in Boy Scouts, serving as a cub master in Oregon and Lakeside, and a supporter of Girl Scouts. He founded a whitewater club in Oregon, and organized a chess club at Blue Ridge.
" The day he died, he told his friends it was the best time he'd ever had on the river," his wife said.
The Upper-Upper section of the Salt River is a class IV-V canyon that flows through the White Mountain Apache Reservation. It is extremely dangerous and has numerous undercut rocks. On July 11, 1993 a party of three kayakers attempted this section. The flow was only 200 cfs; 350 - 1,500 cfs is considered the normal range. The victim, Jeff Birkenshaw, 38, apparently broached on a rock. He caught a throw line, but flipped and exited his boat. He washed into a logjam stuck in an undercut rock. Even though a rope was still attached to his boat, rescuers were unable to pull it loose.
From the White Mountain Independent vol.39 number56 July 16 1993 by Jo Baeza
SHOW LOW (Arizona) - Jeffrey Williams Birkinshaw of Lakeside, a physician assistant at Mc Nary Clinic, died July 11 in a whitewater accident on the Salt River.
Birkinshaw was kayaking with two friends about three miles upstream from the Salt River bridge when the river claimed his life. According to a friend at Mc Nary Clinic, Birkinshaw and his companions were all experienced well-trained kayakers. One companion, Joe Crozier, is an emergency medical technician; the other, John Connolly, is an orthopedic surgeon. "He loved the river. His spirituality came from the river," said Birkinshaw's wife, Suzanne. "He had extreme respect for the river. He never made stupid mistakes. They had all completed whitewater rescue courses. They did nothing wrong," she said, "it was just an accident".
The accident occurred about 5:15 p.m. Sunday, according to Suzanne Birkinshaw. She said that John and Joe were on the shore watching Jeffrey. He was too close to one side. so they threw him a rescue rope, as they had been trained to do. Suddenly, his boat flipped, he lost the rope and disappeared, she said. "There's a very large rock as big as a room. Under the rock was a space filled with debris. He was in a pocket of water with a very powerful current, called" a strainer". He got sucked out of his kayak and under the rock," she said.
She said his friends worked until they were exhausted to find him, but it had started to rain and was getting dark. " there was nothing they could do but finish running the river," she said. They went back to their cars and reported the accident on a car telephone.
Birkinshaw's wife said she learned of the accident about 11:30 p.m. Sunday night and then had to tell her younger children Heather, 10, and Michael ,7. The next day Dr. Ron Pagani offered his plane, the McNary Clinic supplied the fuel, and Darrell Purcell flew her to a Boy Scout camp near Williams so she could tell her oldest son, Christopher about the accident. "There's no way I can express my gratitude to all the people who helped me," she said.
Birkinshaw's body was recovered July 13. Services will be held at Grace Lodge on Penrod Way off Larson Road at 10 a.m. July 20
The Birkinshaw's lived in the White Mountains from 1985 to 1988, then moved to Roseburg, Ore. They returned in August 1992. Birkinshaw was active in Boy Scouts, serving as a cub master in Oregon and Lakeside, and a supporter of Girl Scouts. He founded a whitewater club in Oregon, and organized a chess club at Blue Ridge.
" The day he died, he told his friends it was the best time he'd ever had on the river," his wife said.
The Upper-Upper section of the Salt River is a class IV-V canyon that flows through the White Mountain Apache Reservation. It is extremely dangerous and has numerous undercut rocks. On July 11, 1993 a party of three kayakers attempted this section. The flow was only 200 cfs; 350 - 1,500 cfs is considered the normal range. The victim, Jeff Birkenshaw, 38, apparently broached on a rock. He caught a throw line, but flipped and exited his boat. He washed into a logjam stuck in an undercut rock. Even though a rope was still attached to his boat, rescuers were unable to pull it loose.
Family Members
Sponsored by Ancestry
Advertisement
Advertisement
