I-TEAM: Report details moments before, after WaveRunner accident that killed UF Health Jacksonville CEO
Witnesses say Dr. Leon Haley Jr. was with loved ones during accident
Updated:
July 27, 2021 6:35 pm
A man shared this photo that he took Saturday after the personal watercraft incident. (Provided to WJXT)
PALM BEACH COUNTY, Fla. – The News4Jax I-TEAM is piecing together what happened in the moments before a personal watercraft accident that killed UF Health Jacksonville CEO Dr. Leon Haley Jr.
On Tuesday, the I-TEAM obtained a crash report that reveals what witnesses saw seconds before he crashed into a jetty on Saturday while on a Yamaha WaveRunner in the Palm Beach Inlet and how the witnesses tried to help him immediately after the accident. More photos obtained by the I-TEAM show the WaveRunner lying on top of the jetty after the accident.
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By Joel Malkin
Photo: iStockphoto
The director of UF Health in Jacksonville has died in a jet ski crash in Palm Beach County.
The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission says CEO Dr. Leon Haley Jr. lost control and crashed into a jetty at the Lake Worth Inlet on Saturday. He was taken to St. Mary s Medical Center, where he died.
56-year old Dr. Haley was the first African-American CEO at UF Health and is believed to have been the first person in the state to receive the Pfizer COVID vaccine back in December.
He s credited with leading the fight against the coronavirus in Jacksonville.
I-TEAM: Men say they tried to save UF Health Jacksonville CEO after personal watercraft accident news4jax.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from news4jax.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
Hospitals are battling steep increases in new COVID-19 cases, with Florida leading the nation. On Friday, the most recent day with complete statistics, Florida added 13,256 new cases figures comparable to the disease s prior local peak in January, when the state regularly recorded 10,000 or more infections per day.
Leading causes for the current wave are the highly contagious delta variant primarily among people who are unvaccinated. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control is weighing revising their COVID-19 guidelines to recommend that even fully vaccinated individuals wear masks in public.
A laundry list of medical groups the American Academy of Pediatrics, American Medical Association, American Nursing Association, American Psychiatric Association and 53 other medical associations has called for mandatory vaccines for health care workers.