A man was hospitalized Saturday afternoon after getting hit by a boat while in the water off Fort Lauderdale Beach, fire rescue officials said.
The incident happened right off of Florida State Road A1A at Northeast 21st Street, where the call originally came in for a possible shark bite but quickly changed after that man’s friends said no, he was hit by a boat.
Fort Lauderdale Fire Rescue told CBS News Miami that the man was diving off the coast in water that was about 60 feet deep. It was at that moment when a boat traveling nearby hit him, and its propeller struck his leg.
Christopher Burnes of Beach Ventures told CBS News Miami that he witnessed the entire incident unfold.
“I went to check it out, and they were taking someone off the boat, kind of carrying him, and I went down to look, and obviously, someone was injured and he was on the ground and they were all around him,” he said. “I went, I looked and saw a big gaping wound on the back of his leg.”
Burnes told CBS News Miami that the man was conscious and able to speak, but he was concerned about losing his leg.
The man was taken to Broward Health Medical Center as a trauma alert, FLFR said.
