Woman slips off paddleboard, drowns near Sweet Home
SWEET HOME, Ore. (AP) — A Eugene woman drowned at Foster Reservoir near Sweet Home on Sunday after slipping off a paddleboard.
The Oregonian/OregonLive reports the Linn County Sheriff’s Office says 36-year-old Courtney Couch was on a family outing and had been paddleboarding near a swim area at Lewis Creek Park when she slipped off while trying to help a child and fell into the water.
Couch remained underwater for several minutes before she was pulled to the surface by other swimmers. Officials say she was not wearing a life jacket.
The Linn County Sheriff’s Office says Couch was pronounced dead at a hospital. Couch, an Army veteran, had been a deputy with the Lane County Sheriff’s Office for seven years and leaves behind a young son, the newspaper reported.
