Young woman, 24, dies in horror tubing crash in Portland as her friend watched in horror while the driver 'took a turn so fast she was flung into another boat'
A boat driver killed a young woman by turning too fast and slamming her into another vessel while she was tubing, her friend claims.
Kaileigh Seidel, 24, died on June 22 from injuries she suffered in the collision on the Willamette River in Portland, Oregon.
Police said she was 'thrown' from the boat around 8pm, but her friend Millie Lovea, who was on board watching helplessly, blamed the driver.
Lovea said the driver was 'whipping back and forth through the river' and took a turn too fast, flinging the tube - and Seidel - into the other boat.
Kaileigh Seidel, 24, died on June 22 from injuries she suffered in the collision on the Willamette River in Portland, Oregon
She claimed Seidel was pleading with the person helming the boat to slow down and drive less erratically, but they didn't listen.
'My beautiful best friend and I had just gotten out on the water, having what seemed like a fun time, when everything changed in an instant,' she said.
'Seeing my friend hurt and feeling helpless is something I can't shake. Making the call to her family was even worse.
'I'm overwhelmed with guilt and sadness, wondering why things happened the way they did.
'I keep replaying the events in my mind, questioning what I could have done differently or better to save her.
'Survivor's guilt is real, and it's something I'm gonna carry every single day.'
Photos Seidel posted showed she and her 'bestie' Lovea smiling and laughing just three hours before she was killed.
Seidel was tubing on the river with her friend Millie Lovea (pictured together just three hours before she died), who witnessed the accident
Her friend claimed Seidel was pleading with the boatie to slow down and drive less erratically, but they didn't listen
Her family said Seidel was not usually one to worry, and if she was pleading with the driver to slow down it must have been very dangerous
Seidel's family thanked friends and Portland locals for supporting her family and sharing their love
Seidel's aunt Rachelle Hunsperger, after hearing Lovea's account, insists the boat driver should be charged with causing her death.
'This was not just a simple accident. She did not 'fall off' of a boat. This boat driver needs to be held accountable,' she said.
Hunsperger told KPTV that Seidel was not usually one to worry, and if she was pleading with the driver to slow down it must have been very dangerous.
'That just seems so unlike her. She was always like, let's go, let's have fun. If she was telling somebody to slow down then she was probably scared,' she said.
'This was no simple accident. I feel that there is somebody definitely at fault and hopefully that comes out.'
Seidel's boss said she 'had amazing energy, a loving heart and a smile that could light the world'
The Multnomah County Sheriff's Office River Patrol is investigating Seidel's death
Seidel's sister Aliyah also hit out at the boat driver, whom Seidel did not know well, for their alleged dangerous conduct.
'She was so innocent and taken so violently because of someone else's decision to be reckless,' she told the local news station.
'She was very spontaneous and she loved to have fun. She got invited out on a boat and she had no idea that that would be the last day of her life.'
Aliyah thanked friends and Portland locals for supporting her family and sharing their love for her sister.
The boat collision took place on the Willamette River in Portland, Oregon
The river runs straight through the center of Portland, the biggest city on Oregon
'When I last saw her on Friday night I was helping her move her things out of her apartment because she was moving in with my dad to save money,' she wrote on Facebook.
'She said to me 'seriously thank you SO much, I literally have no one else'. Little did she know she had hundreds of people.'
Seidel's boss Terra Yoder said she 'had amazing energy, a loving heart and a smile that could light the world'.
The Multnomah County Sheriff's Office River Patrol is investigating Seidel's death after a 911 called 'reported that they had witnessed a woman getting struck by another boat'.
