South Florida family who lost daughter in boating accident reacts to deadly Key Largo boat crash
KEY WEST — After a 21-year-old man died in a boating accident off Key Largo over the weekend, a South Florida family who knows all too well about boating tragedies is speaking out and pushing for stricter safer measures on the water.
Eytan Genoune, a young man who owned a fishing company, was killed in the boat crash after he and two others were thrown from the vessel they were on Saturday morning.
According to the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC), they and several other agencies were called out to an area near Card Sound just before 10:30 a.m., where investigators said a boat was heading south when it made a sharp turn and threw all three people on board into the water.
The boat's captain and one of the passengers were rescued by Good Samaritans; however, Genoune died from his injuries. The survivors were taken to Jackson South Trauma Center and their current conditions are unknown at this time.
Melissa and Andy Fernandez understand the pain that comes from a tragedy like this.
"Our heart goes out to those families and our condolences to all of them who right now are just in a state of shock," said Melissa Fernandez.
The couple's 17-year-old daughter Lucy was killed in a boating accident during Labor Day Weekend in 2022. Her family went on to create the Lucy Fernandez Foundation with the hopes of bringing awareness about boater safety and changing laws.
"There needs to be more enforcement, there needs to be more funding so there's more enforcement and finally there needs to be more training," said Andy Fernandez. "Boaters need to have at least a basic level of knowledge and training before going out on the water."
The cause of Saturday's boating accident remains under investigation.
This is the second boating accident in the Florida Keys in a matter of days. A Hialeah woman was killed and five others were ejected from a boat involved in a powerboat race on Thursday afternoon.
