| BRUCE MILLS' ACCIDENT PICTURE BELOW--ONE OF THE LAST OF MILLS Article below by Janelle Patrick (Kyle Patrick's wife.) |
| Everything went great on the 1st race upstream, except Bruce didn't get as good of a time as he would've liked. On the trip back down stream, about half way at Black Hawk, the boat hit a rock. As they did, the boat caught some air. As Kyle looked over at Bruce, Bruce gave Kyle that big dimple filled smile that we've all seen so many times before. He then gave him a big thumbs up and went on. They gave the crowd a good show. We have since heard that as they sped off, the boat completely sprayed the bank and the crowd went nuts. Next they approached Twin Bridges. Before they realized it, they were headed into a large swell in the water that this time threw the nose of the boat straight into the air. They came down very hard on Bruce's side of the boat, at which time Kyle thought they were going to land it okay. Instead, the force of the hit--forced the boat to flip back over towards Kyle's side. Kyle doesn't remember the flip, only realizing that he was under water. Kyle struggled for approx. 1 1/2 -2 minutes to get his harness off and then pushed himself out of the boat. Kyle then tried to get back under the boat to help Bruce, but due to his vest he was unable. That is when Dean Saxon's boat showed up and worked very hard to get the boat turned over. After about 20 minutes in the water, Kyle made it to shore as did the boat, still upside down. At that time they were able to turn the boat right side up. As they did, they found Bruce still strapped in without his helmet on. We've been told the helmet was found downstream cracked. On shore they attempted to revive Bruce with no success. After examination at the hospital the doctor determined that Bruce died on impact, and probably never even knew what happened. There were some question, hopefully we can help answer. We have attached pictures showing a close up picture of Bruce's boat that shows his seat was full height with a head stop. And another picture, taken 11/00 near Sweet Home, OR, of the full face helmet he was wearing during the race. [Will get those pictures on the site as soon as possible. LP] AFTER EXAMINING THE BOAT, IT SEEMS OBVIOUS THAT THEY MUST HAVE HIT A ROCK UPSIDE DOWN. (caps ours) Bruce was not only a very special friend of ours, he was also our employee. He was a great employee and hard worker. Losing Bruce has left a large void in our life and we will forever remember him. Bruce loved life and lived it to the fullest. And if anything good can come from this is for all of us to do the same! We just want to say thank you to all of you for your help and prayers. You have all been so wonderful. We would also like to extend a big thank you to Gary and Sandy. They were a couple at the site of the accident who came forward to help get Kyle back to the kids and I safely and also helped to get him medical attention. We are looking forward to seeing you all again in Grants Pass! God Bless! |
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| Bruce Mills at the turn around of first leg of the Salmon River Race. April 21, 2001 One of the last pictures of Bruce Mills. Thank you Janelle Patrick for sending it. |