TAMPA - Robert Williams and Ailey Penningroth filed a complaint on September 22 in Hillsborough County Circuit Court against Bay Breeze Paddle Adventures LLC (BBPA) d/b/a Tampa Bay Sup for negligence, breach of charter and loss of consortium.
According to the complaint, on February 26, 2021, Williams entered into an oral charter with BBPA for a single person kayak at its main Tampa office. The kayak was put on a dock on navigable waters across from the BBPA office and Williams was given full possession and control over the kayak.
Before getting into the kayak, Williams let BBPA know he was having trouble with the seat's back, he says. The BBPA agent allegedly said “Oh, I can fix that.” Minutes after paddling away from the dock, the seat back of the kayak suddenly and without warning collapsed, causing Williams to fall backwards, out of the kayak and into the brackish waters of Tampa Bay in the channel waters between the dock and Harbour Island, the suit says.
Williams swam back to the dock, but unable to pull himself out of the water, tied the kayak with a line to the dock, then swam east under the Harbour Island Bridge toward the Marriott, looking for a ladder or steps where he could exit the water, he says. Williams attempted to pull himself out of the water onto another floating dock and in the process scraped and cut his lower extremities on a mass of oyster shells and/or barnacles submerged several feet beneath the surface, he says.
Some passers by helped Williams out of the water, and he went back to the BBPA office to show his bleeding injuries, tell staff about the kayak and demand his money back, which was denied, he says.
The following day, Williams developed flu-like symptoms and was transported to Tampa General Hospital after calling 911, the suit says. He was then diagnosed with with septic shock, sepsis due to an organism, necrotizing fasciitis, bacteremia and vibrio vulnificus, a flesh-eating bacteria found in brackish water, the suit says. As a result, he required multiple, extensive medical treatments including surgical care, the suit says.
Williams seeks compensatory damages, taxable costs and other relief allowed by the law. Williams is represented by Henry E. Valenzuela.
Circuit Court of the Thirteenth Judicial Circuit of the State of Florida in and for Hillsborough County General Civil Division filing number 135083262