Boat accident injures Rehberg, Barkus

An Aug. 27 boat crash on Flathead Lake put five people, including U.S. Congressman Denny Rehberg, in the hospital after a powerboat driven by state Senator Greg Barkus slammed into a rocky embankment at Wayfarers State Park in Bigfork.

A spokesman for Rehberg confirmed that he severely broke his left ankle in the Thursday night boating accident.

Rehberg family friend and former chief of staff Erik Iverson told reporters that Rehberg underwent surgery to repair his broken ankle on Friday afternoon at Kalispell Regional Medical Center and that the congressman also sustained cuts and bruises on his face and "quite a bump on the head." Rehberg has a "mild closed head injury," according to Iverson, and suffered a small fracture around his right eye.

Rehberg was released from KRMC on Monday and was traveling back to Billings to recover before Congress re-convenes after Labor Day.

Dustin Frost and Kristen Smith were the two Rehberg staffers that were on board during the crash.

Frost, Rehberg's state director, sustained a 'significant but survivable" head injury and was sedated and stable on Monday morning, Iverson said. Doctors were monitoring the pressure on the staffer's brain.

"The best thing he has going for him is that he's 27 years old and he's strong," Iverson said.

Iverson said doctors and family members were "optimistic" about Frost's recovery, but that the staffer had not been conscious since the crash.

Smith had fractures to her nose, wrist foot and ribs, as well as cuts and bruises on her face, according to Iverson, but was up and walking around and was released from KRMC on Monday.

The accident took place about 100 yards south of the Wayfarers State Park boat dock at around 10:20 p.m. Thursday. Montana Senate Majority Whip Barkus (R-Kalispell), who owns the boat and was driving, was also injured in the crash along with his wife, Kathy.

Iverson offered no specifics about the Barkus' conditions, except to say that both the Senate Majority Whip and his wife were "awake, alert and engaged."

Barkus has retained a lawyer, Todd Glazier of Kalispell, to whom he has directed all inquiries concerning the wreck.

The group had been dining at The Docks restaurant in Lakeside at a family event and were headed back to Marina Cay Resort in Bigfork, where Rehberg and his staffers were staying, when they crashed into the steep, rocky shore of Flathead Lake at Wayfarers Park.

The boat hit the shore with enough speed that it came to rest completely out of the water on the steep slope. Iverson said he didn't yet know if any of the group were ejected from the boat, though Smith had told him she thought she remembered being in the water at some point.

Iverson did report that when emergency room doctors took blood from Rehberg after the crash, his blood alcohol content was .05, "well below" the legal limit of .08.

Montana Fish Wildlife & Parks officials said campers heard the crash not long after 10 p.m. Thursday and called the authorities. One of the five was airlifted to KRMC, though Rehberg was driven by ambulance, according to Iverson.

Rehberg's wife, Jan, had kind words for hospital staff, first responders and the campers who were the first ones on the scene.

"We want to offer a big thank you," she said. "We've been inundated with calls and concern."

Rehberg echoed that sentiment in a written statement following his release from the hospital.

"Jan and I are very grateful for the overwhelming support and prayers we've received from around the country," Rehberg said. "While it's good to be heading home, my thoughts and prayers remain with Dustin, Kristen, Greg, Kathy and their families."