First, while I don't know Bobby, like all here at BT I'm glad he's ok, and hope his recovery is a speedy one.

Next, some qualifications:

No, pmalatin, I'm not sure that you and I, much less everyone, are thinking the same thing.  But there was something about that account that really jumped out at me, so I'll take the chance that is also what you mean.

To BoyGenius:

a)  No, I wasn't there and you were.
b)  Yes, I know you were probably exhausted when writing your account and there may be and probably was a lot of info you left out.
c)  Yes, I know that while you can't ignore it, you also can't do serious whitewater if you're obsessing about 'what if?' all the time.
d)  Yes, I know the thoughts of all in the group were on Bobby, and you probably weren't at your most rational.
e)  No, I'm not specifically saying that you did anything wrong and/or bad.  I'm not trying to second guess you.  I'm not trying to bust your chops in any way at all.  I'm really just curious about the thinking/reasoning of the group at the time.

Ok, done with the qualifications.  My issue/question is that I find the decision to continue the run after the accident to be remarkable, for a couple of reasons.

First, after having gone through such an experience, with the obvious physical and emotional toil, it's hard for me to see how any of the group could have felt like they were still 'on top of their game' that day.  If this were one of those creeks where walking out is harder or more dangerous than running it, that would be one thing.  But since the EMT's got there in 15 minutes, clearly that isn't the case.  While I don't really believe in omens, continuing at that point does seems to be tempting fate a bit.

Second, and most importantly, while I don't know the exact situation in PA, I strongly suspect that it is much the same as here (NC), where we are constantly having to fight the public perception of whitewater as an inherently very dangerous activity, engaged in by reckless thrillseekers.  As one example, my home river is treatened almost every year or so with closure because the county emergency services consider it to be; an overly risky place to provide rescue and, a constant drain on their budget resources.  Which leads to the question of, what if, after deciding to continue, there had been another accident on the same run that same day?  At the least, it seems you would have been awfully embarressed at having to bring the EMT's out there a second time.  But at the worst, it seems to me there would almost certainly now be politicians and/or assorted do-gooders calling for the closure of Hornbeck's to boaters because of its being 'unsafe'.

BoyGenius, again, I'm not raising this to slam you in any way.  However, I would be interested to know your thoughts about this, both at the time, and now in hindsight.

Tell Bobby we're all thinking of him.