SANIBEL, Fla — It happened just before 11:30 today the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission responded to a call from the Lee County Sheriff’s Office, about a single vessel boating accident that happened near Periwinkle Way along Sanibel Island.
One woman sustained severe propeller injuries, and was airlifted to Lee Memorial Hospital.
One witness shared a video of a helicopter landing on the beach to assist with the rescue, he says it came as a shock to his relaxing day at the beach.
“ I could see that they were pulling something or someone out of the water, just based off of the reactions of others around. It was only a couple of minutes after that it was starting to get frantic, people were running back and forth, up and down the beach to obviously medically attend to what was happening’ said Josh Conidaris.
Conidaris is a local, born and raised in Fort Myers, and says these accidents happen more often than they should.
“ I think it’s just a lack of knowledge that people have when they come to these beaches, you know they start up their boat motors with people 10 ft away, it’s just all avoidable,” said Conidaris.
We reached out to F.W.C for some boating safety tips, Public Information Office Adam Brown says, you must first educate yourself about the water.
“We’re trying to get education to be the norm, and get more and more people aware of the rules and regulations when it comes to boating,” said Officer Adam Brown.
Sharing boating safety tips Officer Brown says, you must wear a life jacket at all times.
“And if you are wearing a life jacket you are better prepared or equipped to survive that accident. Make sure you’re paying attention to your surroundings, keeping a 360-degree awareness at all times of your boat as well as the fellow boaters around you. The better educated we are the safer we will be” said Officer Brown.
