Last Friday evening, a Pennsylvania woman suffered severe abdominal injuries when she fell from a jet ski in Ocean City and was struck by the high-pressure water stream from the vessel.
Nathalie Busunga, 22, of Swarthmore, was a passenger aboard the watercraft that was traveling at about 20 to 25 knots in the Isle of Wight Bay near Swordfish Basin when she slipped off the stern of the vessel.
The operator, John Thompson, 44, of Wilmington, Delaware, said his passenger began complaining of internal pain soon after the fall so they went to Thunder Island and he called 911. Basunga was taken to Peninsula Regional Medical Center by Ocean City first responders.
The incident was reported to the Coast Guard and remains under investigation.
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On Sunday, officers and members of the Coast Guard on a saturation patrol off Ocean City stopped two jet skis for operating after sunset.
Both operators were suspected of being impaired. Justin Robert Drost, 35, of Baltimore, refused to take any sobriety tests. James Henry Stephens, 34, of Ocean City, agreed to be tested and showed signs of impairment.
Both men were charged with two counts of boating while impaired. They are scheduled to appear in Worcester District Court on October 7.
