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Family of rafting guide urges state to require AEDs on commercial rafts
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Summary
Bob and Gail Sparell told the Worker Memorial Day audience about their son Mike's 2023 rafting death and said friends have proposed a state-law amendment to require automated external defibrillators on commercial rafts; family members and the crowd urged that lessons from the death be turned into safety changes.
At Washington's Worker Memorial Day ceremony, Gail and Bob Sparell recounted the 2023 death of their son, Mike, who died after his commercial rafting guide raft overturned on the Wenatchee River. The family said the coroner concluded cold-water shock triggered an asthma attack that in turn caused a heart attack, and that emergency responders were unable to revive him.
Gail Sparell described the accident and the grief that followed, noting that friends of her son held a benefit concert and auction that raised $20,000 for their daughters. She said two friends, identified in her remarks as Holly and Don (a rafting company owner), "recently proposed an amendment to an existing state law that, if passed, would require all commercial rafts on Washington waters to have an AED aboard."
"What if the rafts had an AED? What if the guides knew how to use it? Would he have survived?" Gail Sparell asked the audience, framing the proposed change as a concrete safety measure that could save lives in similar incidents. Bob Sparell thanked L&I staff for support and said the family's hope is that Mike's death will catalyze safer practices.
The amendment was described as a community-driven proposal mentioned during the ceremony; there was no legislative text presented and no vote or formal action taken at the event. Any change to state law would require legislators to sponsor and pass a bill through the regular legislative process. The family also reported a local memorial bench and ongoing community support for their daughters.
The Sparells' remarks added a policy-focused element to the memorial, coupling personal testimony with a specific safety recommendation that officials and lawmakers could consider in future policy discussions.
