Public Safety Message: Surviving Montana Rivers

Whether you are enjoying the view or the refreshing feel of a cool mountain stream, casting for trout, or boating, tubing or rafting, Montana rivers and creeks are an awesome natural resource. But locals and visitors alike best be wary, lest they veer down an embankment,  drive off the road, get pinned by or slip into the current, capsize or even unexpectedly encounter an otter. Drowning and hypothermia are ever present dangers.  Now we can add to the long list of hazards -- a suddenly falling humanoid. 

It happened earlier this week in Missoula, 

Clark Fork River Bridge, Missoula Montana

MISSOULA, Mont. (AP) — A western Montana man floating on an inner tube suffered broken bones in his legs and torn ligaments in his knees when another man jumped from a bridge and landed in his lap.

Andy Hill of Missoula and his wife were floating under a bridge on the Clark Fork River near East Missoula Sunday when the man landed on him, KECI-TV reported.

"Suddenly I had intense pain and was under water," Hill said.

"There was a guy on my lap and he rolled off my lap and he just kept apologizing saying 'I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry,'" Hill said.

The man swam Hill to shore, still on the inner tube, and the man's friend helped Hill as well.

Hill suffered broken bones in both lower legs and a cracked femur in his left leg and will likely spend the rest of the summer in a wheelchair or on crutches.

But he's been able to keep his sense of humor.

"Who does this happen to?" asked Hill, laughing. "I don't know of anybody this has ever happened to."

Be careful out there!