Family Sues Boy Scouts for $10 Million, Allege Employees Led to Child's PWC Death

The boy was 10 years old.

Photo by: BRP

By: Jonathon Klein

Sep 23, 2024 at 8:31am ET

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I cannot imagine getting a phone call like the one Jack Gear's parents received earlier this year informing them their son had passed away.

Gear, who'd been at a summer camp with the Middle Tennessee Council for the Boy Scouts of America, was riding a Sea-Doo personal watercraft (PWC) being driven by one of the camp's employees. During the ride, however, the PWC collided with another PWC head-on—being driven by another employee—and killed Gear, along with critically injuring the driver of the Gear's PWC.

As you'd expect, Gear's parents not only want answers but are also suing the group, alleging in recently published court documents that their son's death was caused by "negligence and reckless conduct" by those running the camp.

To that end, according to People, "In addition, the court documents noted that the use of personal watercraft is prohibited by the Boy Scouts, according to their 'Guide to Safe Scouting,' and alleged that it is unclear if the camp obtained an exemption to operate the vehicles."

The suit is seeking $10 million from the organization due to said negligent conduct and the death of their son.

PWC accidents are all too common these days, as folks tend to believe their invincible, and that goes double for younger operators. Routinely, they fail to understand the risks involved with such high-horsepower machinery, especially ones that can accelerate so quickly on water. I've seen a serious uptick in PWC-related injuries and deaths in recent years, not because the machines are inherently dangerous, but because people don't give them their proper respect.

Rentals are easy and require nothing more than signing a waiver more often than not. No one gets trained to ride these machines, and it shows in the news each and every day of summer.

I hope that the Gears get some sort of semblance of peace from the lawsuit, though nothing will ever be enough in my mind.