FLW Outdoors officials have not returned BassFan's calls for more information about the crash yesterday at the Lake of the Ozarks FLW Series that involved pro Tim Horton and co-angler Leon Williams. But the company did release details of the incident in an article published on its website.
The article stated that Williams was flown to St. John's hospital in Springfield, Mo. where he is undergoing tests. The article credited Williams' brother Terry as saying Williams is awake, has feeling in his feet, and that initial tests show damage to two vertebrae but no paralysis.
According to the article, Horton sustained no injuries and withdrew from the tournament.
The article also noted that the accident occurred within a mile of the weigh-in, when Horton's boat – which had been running though a 2-foot chop – struck a 6-foot swell. The swell allegedly forced the boat to land on its port side, and both anglers were ejected.
Lake of the Ozarks is known as somewhat dangerous water, in part because of wakes generated by large cruisers. It's possible such a cruiser could have been the source of the swell in this incident.
John Sappington, who suffered a near-fatal accident himself while practicing for the 2004 Atchafalaya Basin FLW Tour event, apparently was first on the scene, the article stated, where he and his co-angler Mike Lewis pulled Horton and Williams from the water. Sappington and Lewis helped the anglers back into Horton's boat, and Missouri State Water Patrol officers responded as Horton and Williams were at idle speed moving toward the marina.
BassFan will continue to pursue the story.
(Editor's note: FLW Outdoors has not responded to queries about this incident and other matters that have happened recently. Apparently it will not comment on issues that arise at its tournaments to any endemic media, and will not release details other than via its own means, such as press releases and its website. This is in keeping with FLW Outdoors CEO Charlie Evans' statement that tournament issues are between the involved angler or anglers and FLW Outdoors (e.g., Tony Christian, Mike Iaconelli at the Potomac River FLW and others). Nevertheless, BassFan will endeavor to continue to report on this and all other FLW issues and events as long as it is feasible to do so.)
