KNOXVILLE, Tenn. — Two East Tennessee mothers have found a bond through a similar story that ended in two different ways — one in tragedy, and the other in survival.
Lindsey Hinds raised her children on the water. She taught them how to stay safe on the water and how to navigate the waves. But one day, the unthinkable happened. She spotted her daughter facedown in the water, unconscious.
"When I looked at her, she was, like, facedown in the water. And, like, when she kind of rolled to the side I saw her face and her eyes were wide open. And she had foam coming out of her mouth, like her eyes. She just looked like she was gone," said Hinds.
Now, she calls her daughter and her nephew, "miracle children." They managed to survive an invisible poison — a dangerous blast of carbon monoxide from the boat's engine.
"I just can't, I cannot imagine losing her ... It's just gut-wrenching. It's unthinkable. It's unimaginable," she said.
Around 15 minutes down the road, another mother was not so fortunate. She lost her child due to a similar situation.
"We are bonded through the trauma from both situations," said Hinds.
"When I read Lindsey's story, I sobbed. I didn't finish the story very quickly. But, just to know that close to us, another family has been touched by this," said Courtney Rae McArthur, who lost her 19-year-old daughter.
Her daughter was hanging out near the back of the boat, wetting her hair, when she was overcome by carbon monoxide and slipped into the water. According to McArthur, the Medical Examiner said she went under the water and took a breath, causing her to fall unconscious and drown.
Typically, a grown adult has a carbon monoxide blood level of around 2%, but her daughter's was around 54% when she died. Now, her mother and Hinds are giving voice to the danger.
"I hope that we can honor Maddie by raising awareness," said Hinds.