A fundraiser cornhole tournament and raffle will be held Saturday at Dick’s Brewing Company to support Centralia resident Rick Stumm, who was injured in a boat collision on the Columbia River on Aug. 22.
The event will begin at 2 p.m. and will raise funds to help pay for the associated costs as Stumm, 67, was transported via helicopter to a trauma unit at PeaceHealth Southwest Medical Center in Vancouver after the crash.
Stumm, 67, and his two friends — local residents Randy DeLuc, the boat’s owner, and Dan Fetch — were trolling for fish in the Columbia River when they were struck by another boat carrying four people in what the Cowlitz County Sheriff’s Office determined was an “offset head-on collision.”
The violent collision forced Fetch from LeDuc’s 20-foot fishing boat into the water, where he struggled to escape until help arrived from another passing boat. According to the sheriff’s office, Fetch was not wearing a life jacket at the time.
Stumm, meanwhile, was struck by the oncoming boat.
His sister, Eileen Weyrauch, told The Chronicle that it is a miracle that he is alive. She said his injuries included internal bleeding that had to be stabilized before he could be lifeflighted to the intensive care unit (ICU). Stumm also suffered a fractured skull, a broken nose, a broken clavicle, seven broken ribs, a punctured lung and a laceration to his kidney.
As of Sept. 5, he was moved out of the ICU but was still in the hospital.
For more information on the collision, visit previous Chronicle reporting at https://tinyurl.com/5n7xscf6. To make a donation or for more information on the fundraiser, call 360-269-7143.
