Half an hour after leaving their mansion on Star Island off Miami Beach, the couple's Sunday pleasure cruise turned into the most terrifying experience they had had since Gloria, now 38, broke her back in a bus crash five years ago. At about 4 p.m. on Sept. 24, Gloria and Emilio, who is also her manager, were returning home in their 33-foot dual outboard motorboat when they spotted a Wave Runner wet bike speeding toward them. "I said to Gloria, 'I think he's going to jump the wake,' " recalls Emilio, who was driving the boat. "Then—bam!—I heard a noise."
The driver of the Wave Runner, 29-year-old Howard University law student Maynard Howard Clarke, apparently lost control of his craft and smashed into the rear side of the Estefans' boat. "[To avoid a collision, a wet bike driver's] natural reaction is to let up on the throttle," says Capt. Mike Lamphear of the Florida Marine Patrol, "but wet bikes don't maneuver worth a hoot once you turn off the power. They just keep going straight ahead." On impact, Clarke flew into the water and got caught in the boat's propellers, which tore open his shoulder, chest and windpipe. His passenger and friend, Tisha Greene, 22, also a Howard law student, went flying in another direction and suffered only minor injuries.
Emilio, who had been cruising along at only 12 mph because of heavy traffic, cut his engine and dove in to help Clarke, who was floating facedown and bleeding profusely. "With that much blood you think about AIDS and there are also a lot of shark and barracuda," he says. "But it's someone's life and you have to try to help."
As Gloria frantically called 911 on her cellular phone, other people arrived on the scene, helped Emilio hoist Clarke and Greene onto separate wet bikes and then drove the injured couple to shore. When they reached the Miami Beach mainland, emergency workers tried in vain to resuscitate Clarke, who died before reaching nearby South Shore Hospital. Greene was treated for cuts and bruises and released from the hospital the following day.
Emilio, who doesn't drink and whose boat was carrying only Evian water at the time, prudently insisted on being given a blood test to prove he wasn't driving under the influence. An initial police investigation showed no wrongdoing on his part, but the horror of the accident left the Estefans deeply shaken. "Gloria was desperate for the emergency workers to come," says Emilio, whose wife was too distraught to talk publicly about the collision. "The first day was horrible. It was very tough for me and Gloria. It's a life, and there's nothing we could do to save him."
Clarke's parents—Maynard and his wife, Barbara—understand that. Shortly after learning their only child had been killed, the Barrington, R.I., couple received a call from Gloria, who insisted on phoning because she had never received a call from the truck driver responsible for her bus accident. "It was an uplifting call," says the elder Clarke, 66, a retired Navy management analyst. "She was very upset and said she hasn't been sleeping. She told us if there's anything she could do to help, she will."
For now, the Clarkes are trying to assuage their grief by summoning up fond memories of their son. "There are little things we've been thinking about," says Clarke. "When Maynard was little we visited New York. There were many homeless people, and he was concerned about them. He'd say, 'Dad, they don't have beds or a place to go.' When he was older and living in D.C., he and his friends would go to homeless shelters and serve food on Thanksgiving."
Second-year law student Maynard, who attended Howard as an undergraduate, managed a parking lot in downtown Washington at the time of his death. Right before he died, Maynard called his father with exciting news. "He said, 'Dad, they're going to build a new convention center in Washington, and I think we're getting some parking areas close to it. That's big bucks!' "
Clarke's accident was hardly unique. Last year, 56 people died in the U.S. as the result of accidents involving personal watercraft vehicles such as wet bikes, and, according to Lamphear, 34 percent of reported boating accidents are wet bike-related. No license or training is required to rent them, and they can be driven by anyone as young as 14. As a result, says Lamphear, "we see a lot of people on those craft simply slamming into boats." Which is why the Estefans won't allow their 15-year-old son, Nayib, to ride one without supervision. "It's like giving someone a motorcycle and not telling them how to drive it," says Emilio. "And with a wet bike, you have no brakes."
As devastated as the Estefans were by the accident, Emilio hopes some benefit may come from it. "It could have been any other boat," says Emilio, "but in a way I'm glad it was my boat because we can save a lot of lives with the publicity. We have to do something about the wet bikes. We need to tell people to be careful." He is determined not to be scared off from boating. "I would go out next weekend," he says. "I'm sure I would be nervous, but my conscience is clean. I did everything I could, and all we can do now is pray for this young man and his family."
PETER CASTRO
CINDY DAMIPIER in Miami and MARY ESSELMAN in Washington
- Contributors:
- Cindy Damipier,
- Mary Esselman.
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