(Sac County, IA) -- Two teens are recovering after a crash involving a pontoon and a personal watercraft in northwest Iowa. The Iowa Department of Natural Resources says it happened Sunday afternoon on Black Hawk Lake in Sac County.
The DNR says the pontoon was operated by 75-year-old Charles Lierman of Ankeny, traveling 15 miles per hour, pulling three grandkids on a tube, when he made a wide left turn and saw the personal watercraft coming. Llierman corrected to the right to try and avoid the collision.
The DNR says the personal watercraft (PWC) was traveling 40 MPH when the operator, 16-year-old Averie Thometz of Harlan, saw the pontoon, and let off the throttle, which disengaged the steering. Thometz and passenger 17-year-old Dakota Goede, also of Harlan, were ejected and helped onto the pontoon by the tubers and then taken to shore.
Both teens were taken to a local hospital. One teen was then transferred to Omaha for leg surgery.