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CROSSVILLE – TWRA Officers along with Rhea County Sheriff’s Office, Rhea County Emergency Management, and Rhea County Fire responded to a call regarding an unresponsive man who fell from and was ran over by a boat on Chickamauga Lake. The incident occurred near the Route 60 bridge, just after 1:00 p.m. EDT.

Jordan Matthews, a 34-year-old Hamilton County resident, along with an adult woman and child were boating near the Highway 60 bridge.  Matthews was sitting outside the railing, at the bow of an older pontoon boat, when he fell into the water and was run over by the vessel. He sustained several lacerations and was found unconscious. Passing anglers helped pull the man back into the pontoon boat where they tried to revive him through CPR. He was transported to the Rhea Medical Center where he was declared deceased.

The victim was not wearing a lifejacket. This is the 17th boating-related fatality in Tennessee this year.