August 10, 2024 brought the worst call Riley Logan has ever received. Her husband, Bassmaster Elite pro Wes Logan had experienced a serious boating accident and he was all alone on a big lake.
A few hours into Day 1 of the Elite event on Lake Champlain, Wes struck a large, partially-submerged object — likely a floating dock that had broken loose during a recent storm. When the phone rang at 10:17 a.m., Riley knew there were only two explanations and one of them was not good.
“I was about to go on Bassmaster LIVE with Le Ann Swindle at 10:30 and when I saw his number,” she said. “My heart sank, because either it was really bad, or he had butt dialed me.
“I was hoping for the butt dial.”
No such luck.
Harsh Reality Handled
Riley recalls her husband’s first words: “He said. ‘I’m hurt really bad.’”
The collision threw Wes across the passenger seat, face first into the gunnel. Lacerations on his forehead and chin would require several stitches and with his boat immobilized, he needed urgent help.
Fortunately, Riley works as a Registered Nurse at UAB Hospital in Birmingham, so she compartmentalized the facts from the feelings and prioritized the former.
“I don’t think I really processed it at first; I went into nursing mode,” Riley said. “I was like ‘How bad are you hurt? What hurts? Where are you at? How can I help?’
“As a nurse, the first thing you do is assess.”
Determining that Wes’ injuries were not life-threatening, Riley went to work coordinating his transportation from the water to the local medical facility. She also posted an update to social media and did her best to console Wes’ mother, who was attending the event.
“I think I handled it pretty well, but I don’t think everyone took me seriously, at first, because I was so calm,” Riley admits. “Looking back now, it’s kind funny how calm I was, but after we got him (medical attention) and got him back on the water, I went back to our trailer and got emotional.”
There’s only so much a person can contain. At some point, you have to let it out.
For Riley Logan, that point never comes until everyone is safe and cared for. That’s her way, because that’s what nurses do.
Her Course
While working at UAB, Riley has been pursuing her Masters in Nursing Informatics at UAB. Set to graduate in August, she said her course actually came via secondary exposure.
“My whole life I thought I was going to be a pharmacist and my senior year of high school, I shadowed a pharmacist at Cullman Regional Medical Center,” Riley said. “We restocked a lot of the medications and (nursing) looked way more fun than what I was doing.
“I was like, ‘I’m going to change my focus to nursing and see if I like that.’ That’s what I stuck with.”
Starting her schooling during the 2020 pandemic period, Riley earned her Associate Degree in Nursing at Jefferson State Community College and went on to earn her Bachelor of Science in Nursing at UAB.
What’s interesting is the parallels she’s found between her career and her husband’s.
“It’s all challenging some days, but you can kinda compare it to fishing,” she said. “Like when Wes would talk about the beginning of modern technology like forward facing sonar, it’s the same in nursing — technology is everywhere.
“We’re having to learn new things and sometimes it doesn’t work and then that delays you. Having to figure things out to keep your workflow going, that’s one of the most difficult things.”
The Couple
Riley was born and raised in Arab, Ala., about an hour and 15 minutes from Springville, where she and Wes make their home. Notably, Wes was born and raise in Springville, so who knows how many times they may have passed on the highway.
Calling herself a casual angler, Riley said her fishing roots followed traditional southern family values. A lot of bank fishing with relatives had her hooked from a young age.
“The first time I fished from a boat was with Wes, but I started fishing as soon as I could walk,” she said. “My Pawpaw lived on a pond we called the Twin Lakes and we bed fished a lot.
“My personal best came from that lake. We didn’t have a scale, but it was about 5 1/2 pounds. I was maybe 3 and my aunt helped me hold it.”
Riley and Wes started dating in 2018 and five years later, they eloped to Moab, Utah. Riley called it kind of a bucket lister.
“I just liked the scenery; it was something different and we’d never been out west before,” she said. “I had always wanted to go out west, so we made it a whole trip and did our honeymoon throughout Utah. We did some stuff around Arches National Park and that evening, we did the actual ceremony at Dead Horse Point.
Riley said she and Wes enjoy hiking and even though tournament travel takes them through some of the nation’s most naturally beautiful areas, time constraints require an in-and-out approach.
During the 2023 Bassmaster Elite at Lake Oahe, the Logans spent some time hiking the Badlands where the highlight was spotting a Rocky Mountain goat. That whet their appetites for more outdoor adventures.
“I feel like right now, we treat being on the road like business — we do what we need to do for the tournament and then we get home, because I normally have to work,” Riley said. “This busy chapter of life is about to come to an end for me soon, so hopefully we can start branching out a little bit, staying a little longer after a tournament and actually getting to explore the places we go to.”
Skills Applied
For all of their travels, Riley keeps a professional grade first aid kit handy, along with a medicine bag with options for anything imaginable. Without question, the most valuable asset she carries on the road is her experience and a willingness to use it.
“I feel like I’m also good at using what’s on hand,” Riley said. “Wes and I have been the first people on the scene at wrecks and I’m the first person getting people out of the car and providing first aid.
“I just roll with what we have. That’s how nursing is and that’s how I treat it.”
Coincidentally, while heading to the ill-fated Lake Champlain event, the Logans observed a truck lose control and roll into a ditch. Finding a passenger bleeding badly, Riley improvised and used the woman’s jacket as a makeshift bandage.
“Every year, we have to complete Continuing Education credits and some of the classes have revolved around (the concept of resourcefulness),” Riley said. “Stopping the Bleed is one of the classes I’ve taken. It teaches you to use whatever’s on-hand.
“I feel you have to do that sometimes in hospitals because we do run out of supplies. Like during the Covid era, we were out of a lot of things and we had to really get creative and make it work.”
Connective Perspective
Speaking to the traits requisite to nursing, Riley said: “You need to be flexible. Your day is never the same. I’m a perfectionist, which is a good thing, but you have to be able to go with the flow and roll with how your day goes.
“You can have your whole day planned out and it will not go the way you think it will. Wes and I compare our jobs a lot. He’ll talk about something and I’m like, that’s funny you should say that, because in nursing (it’s very similar).”
Riley knows that every day of her job and her husband’s carries a certain degree of unpredictability. They both do their best to manage whatever unfolds, but they anchor their solidity in a higher power.
“Every day since Wes started fishing, before he takes off, I always pray for three things: guidance, safety and patience,” Riley said. “Ever since his accident, I really make sure to put an emphasis on safety.”
