The Penticton Fire Department has confirmed that a 55-year-old man was rushed to Penticton Regional Hospital with serious injuries to his legs and feet after getting cut by a boat propeller on Sunday afternoon.
At 1:22 p.m. on July 14, the Penticton fire department and BC Ambulance Service responded to a severe bleeding call at Okanagan Lake near the Penticton Yacht Club.
Captain Graham Gowe said the incident happened out on the lake. The water skier was getting back on the boat when his legs floated under the hull and hit the propeller.
“The boat was in neutral and as the skier was coming up to the swim grid somehow his legs floated up under the hull,” Gowe said, adding the man had a towel wrapped around his left ankle and was using a ski rope as a tourniquet on his leg when they arrived.
He sustained serious injuries to both ankles.
The man has since had surgery and is resting. A full recovery is expected.
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“If swimmers are near a boat or if you are picking up a water skier just shut the motor right off,” Gowe said. “Then you are not questioning yourself, whether it’s in drive or neutral. It’s just so much safer when you’ve got swimmers around your boat just to shut it right off.”