A Monroe kayaker pulled from the Skykomish River and transported to Evergreen Hospital in critical condition on July 3 did not survive.
The King County Medical Examiner’s Office confirmed 27-year-old Dugan Flanders died on July 4 from accidental drowning.
Flanders spent four years in the Marines before returning to Monroe, where he had worked for Werner Paddles since May 2015. This January he was promoted to the position of southwest sales representative, according to the Monroe company’s Facebook page. According to a Werner Paddles news release, the Skykomish River was Flanders' favorite place to paddle.
The Monroe man had been whitewater paddling in the Skykomish River on Tuesday, when he was reportedly caught in rough water about four miles east of Gold Bar, according to the Snohomish County Sheriff’s Office.
Two other kayakers were able to reach the man after the current carried him further downstream, according to a news release.
The sheriff’s office and Snohomish County Fire District 26 responded when the 911 report came in around 7 p.m. The kayakers were performing CPR on the Monroe man at this point.
Flanders is the sixth person to die this year from drowning in a Snohomish County river.
Photo courtesy of Werner Paddles: Dugan Flanders was pulled out of the Skykomish River on Tuesday, July 3, where he had been paddling. He died the next day at Evergreen Hospital.
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