A child died following a jet ski crash on Old Hickory Lake in July and now the family is suing the Middle Tennessee Council Boy Scouts of America.
The 10-year-old, identified as Jack Gear, passed away on July 16, 2024. At the time of his death, Jack was a camper at Boy Scout Camp Boxwell located at Boxwell Reservation.
According to the Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency (TWRA), Wilson County deputies responded to the crash around 4:30 p.m. where they found Jack suffering from his injuries.
TWRA says a 19-year-old female Boxwell staff member was operating a jetski with Jack as a passenger when they were struck by another jetski also occupied by a staff member from the campground and another child.
Jack was taken to Vanderbilt Wilson County Hospital where he passed away from his injuries. The 19-year-old was also seriously injured and was taken to Vanderbilt Medical Center.
Jack’s family claims his death is the result of Middle Tennessee Council’s Boy Scouts of America’s “negligence and reckless conduct.”
The lawsuit states the following acts of negligence and recklessness were conducted by the Middle Tennessee Council’s Boy Scouts of America, its employees and representatives that caused Jack Gear’s injuries and death:
- Failing to adequately and properly train its agents, representatives, and employees, regarding the proper and safe operation of personal watercraft.
- Failing to adequately and properly supervise its agents, representatives, and employees, regarding the proper and safe operation of personal watercraft.
- Failing to enforce the policies, rules, and guidelines applicable to the safe and appropriate operation of personal watercraft, including those promulgated by the Boy Scouts of America that requires operators to idle their engines when within 50 feet of another watercraft.
- Failing to train, instruct, and warn its agents and employees regarding the foreseeable risks including serious bodily injury and death that could result from the negligent and reckless operation of personal watercraft.
- Failing to ensure that proper training protocols and procedures existed for the training, supervision, and education of its employees and agents in the operation of personal watercraft.
- Failing to act in a reasonable and careful manner as the circumstances required.
View the complete filing here.
The suit was filed on August 30, 2024. Middle Tennessee Council’s Boy Scouts of America are being sued for $10,000,000 for Jack Gear’s physical pain and suffering before his death, the value of Jack Gear’s life and the parents and their surviving children’s loss of companionship, love, affection, and guidance caused by the death of Jack Gear.
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