Mum reveals item that saved son's life in horror boat propeller accident

A family's day out recently turned to horror when a schoolboy's leg got sucked into a propeller as he played at the back of a boat. The incident occurred over a long-weekend earlier this month after Charity Diamond took her children to the Yellowtail Dam across Bighorn River in Montana, US.

Her son Treyson Diamond had been messing about with a friend at the rear of the boat when his right leg was suddenly caught in the propeller. The 11-year-old was rushed to hospital in a helicopter where he underwent emergency surgery and had 400 stitches to repair the many deep gashes left in his leg.

The blades not only slashed his leg, cutting an artery, but also slit Treyson's life-vest off of him in the water.

The 40-year-old mum said the life-jacket he was wearing saved him, because it meant the propeller cut that, rather than his body.

"The life jacket saved him as far as his actual core of his body," Charity said. "If he didn't have that on it would have been a whole different story. It happened that fast, and then everyone racing around to help him

"I was 100% panicked. It took like five or six seconds and that's a really long time as a mum scanning the water to try to find out because you don't want to jump in if you don't know where you're going.

"I was horrified. Honestly I don't even know if I had time to be completely horrified because I was holding my son's legs."

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Adults on the boat help make a tourniquet

Charity, who works as a realtor, said they were 24km into the river's reservoir when the accident happened, and that one of her friends pulled Treyson out of the water.

All of the adults on the boat helped to make a tourniquet, using towels and some rope from the boat to try to stop the bleeding. The mum-of-two said they had no mobile reception on the boat and had to race back to the dock to call for help.

Once they managed to call emergency services, they needed to get Treyson to a helicopter so he could reach the hospital as soon as possible.

A couple who had heard the commotion at the dock volunteered to drive Charity and her two children to meet an ambulance en route that was coming to take them to the helicopter. On their way, they were flagged down by a park ranger who replaced the make-shift tourniquet for a proper one.

"It was dramatic for everyone," Charity said. "I was screaming, praying over my kid, yelling at the guy to go faster. "It was just horrifying for my other son who was there as well, it was honestly just completely horrifying, like my worst nightmare."

'We went from zero to one hundred really quick'

Charity travelled with Treyson and her other son, Andreus Thonney, 10, in the helicopter to St Vincent Regional Hospital in their hometown of Billings, Montana, where Trey was rushed into surgery.

The family spent the next three days in the hospital while he recovered from surgery.

"My kid has never had a broken bone, not one broken bone. He's never been hospitalised. We went from zero to one hundred really quick," the mum said.

Treyson, who was supposed to be starting middle school this September, is now using a walker to help him get about and has not returned to class yet.

Charity said she does not know if he will regain full use of his leg again and that doctors are still figuring out the extent of the nerve and muscle damage, but that he will undergo extensive physiotherapy.

A GoFundMe page has been set up to help the family with medical expenses since Charity is a single mother and cannot work at the moment as she is caring for Treyson full-time.

Kennedy News

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