A 39-year-old man suffer a partial amputation of his hand after being struck by the vessel's propeller according to CBS News.
The ill-fated man from Richmond had been riding on the front of the boat's bow, an act prohibited in California due to the immense safety risks involved, when he was suddenly thrust overboard and sustained the grisly injury.
Fortunately, his family managed to pull him back onto the boat, despite him not wearing a life jacket. A quick-thinking Napa County Sheriff's deputy arrived at the scene and swiftly applied a tourniquet to stop the bleeding in the nick of time, KRON4 reported.
With life-saving cross-agency support from CAL FIRE and the California Highway Patrol, the injured man was airlifted to a Vacaville hospital for surgery on a CHP helicopter.
Agency spokesperson Henry Wofford noted that the victim was lucky to be alive, as mentioned in the San Francisco Chronicle.
The Napa County Sheriff's Office is additionally urging individuals to be mindful of safety protocols when out on the water, such as wearing life jackets, avoiding reckless boat riding, and refraining from engaging in activities like riding on the forward bow of a boat.
