(Marion County, AR) Eleven-year-old William Feehan of Millington lost his life this weekend while on vacation with his family and neighbors.

“Our lives are in turmoil,” James Harvey said.

Harvey said his family and the Feehan’s went on a camping trip to Bull Shoals. They decided to rent a deck boat on Saturday at the Bull Shoals Boat Dock in Arkansas.

He said William’s father Matthew was driving the boat while William,  William’s brother and Harvey’s son were pulled behind in an inner-tube when the boat suddenly malfunctioned.

“We had gotten three of the kids on an inner-tube and we were pulling them doing a zigzag motion, throwing them on the waves a little bit. When the boys’ father was banking to the right, the steering wheel ripped out of his hands, the wheel spun. It did a hairpin turn of 180 and ran back over the boys,” he said.

The boat hit and killed William.

“My son and his 14-year-old boy are both fine,” he said. “We are going to get the families and kids set up in counseling. It’s pretty rough, especially on the father.”

Neighbors of this tight-nit community are shocked and devastated by the news.

“That’s just hard to swallow,” Chad Stevens said. “We go every summer and do the same thing they were doing we go out and go tubing.”

Tonight family and friends grieve over this sudden loss.

“He’s smart as a whip was in the school play,” Harvey said about William.

The Arkansas Game and Fish Commission continues to investigate the tragic accident.

The father so far does not face any charges.

The Boat Dock where they rented the boat said that the boat is going under extensive testing to determine how and if the boat malfunctioned.