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Woman Loses Left Foot In Freak Boating Accident


robertstone9

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watch those ropes always

PLACERVILLE (CBS13) – A boating accident left a woman without a foot, but she’s not letting the freak accident ruin her life.

Her story of recovery is nothing short of inspirational, but her story doesn’t end there.

Emily O’Meara was enjoying her first weekend in almost a year with her family on the lake, when the almost impossible happened.

You couldn’t tell from O’Meara’s smile that just 2 weeks ago she lost her left foot in a freak accident.

“I’m thankful it was just the foot,” said O’Meara.

A tow rope, attached to a raft the family was pulling on Jenkins Lake, wrapped around the Placerville mom’s ankle.

“I was coming up out of the water, lifted my leg up out of the water and there wasn’t my foot, was just dangling there,” said O’Meara.

O’Meara says a stranger on the dock quickly called 911.

Now she’s hoping to find the good Samaritan who helped her family and possibly helped save her life.

“That man, I don’t know his name, but I want to thank him for being there at that exact moment in my life,” said O’Meara. “Who knows how long it would have taken for someone to find their phone and call. “

She’s not stopping there.

O’Meara is turning her tragedy into a mission to warn others about the danger tow ropes can cause.

“I will gladly sacrifice a foot and be glad it wasn’t my son sitting in that seat,” said O’Meara.

Instead of allowing her loss to ruin her life, the cheerful waitress plans to take advantage of what she calls her new lease on life.

“I was given a second chance at life and I’m just going to go with it and see where it takes me,” said O’Meara.

Her boss Bob Huston says her job’s waiting for her when she comes back.

“For anybody to accept something like that so quickly is extraordinary,” said Huston. “But she is a great gal.”

http://sacramento.cbslocal.com/2012/08/17/woman-loses-left-foot-in-freak-boating-accident/

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A tow rope, attached to a raft the family was pulling on Jenkins Lake, wrapped around the Placerville mom’s ankle.

“I was coming up out of the water, lifted my leg up out of the water and there wasn’t my foot, was just dangling there,” said O’Meara.

Sounds like an accident to me or she may have be unaware of her surroundings....if definitely does not sound like she was being stupid.

Edited by Murphy8166
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we were on the delta one time heading back to the dock , we had the tube tied on the back swim deck rope was wound up on the floor between the back seat and the engine. my friend had his leg in the center of the rope , and some how the tube came loose running about 30mph and ripped the rope out of the boat thank god i stopped quick however my friend had a major rope burn i could see how it could of been way worse then what happen to us and now we leave the tube at the houseboat or beach and only haul it around when the kids want to use it! :(

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I believe it. I'm here to tell you guys, the rope is the most dangerous thing we all have on the boat. Everyone is cautious around things like props & fins. But the rope is so innocent.

I know I've told the story about a friend in Ohio who lost his big toe. After everyone rode for the day, they are railin back to the marina at high speed, SkySki sitting on the engine cover of their VLX, rope laying in a heap on the floor, handle sitting next to the SkySki. The boat goes thru some big chop, no one is paying much attention to the back of the boat, the SkySki bounces out of the boat & takes the handle with it....... seconds later the rope takes Don's big toe with it.

Their in total pandemonium, Don is bleeding badly, probably screamin his head off. They call 911 & the ambulance is at the marina when the come in. They all leave for the hospital & leave the boat to the marina attendant who puts the boat away. A week or so later Don's buddies come down to the boat to use it again..... and what do they find? But Don's big toe.

Now they call that boat the "Offical Toe Boat".

No lie. Funny, yes. But a true story. Be VERY careful around the rope!!!

Edited by Bill_AirJunky
  • Like 1
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I know several people with permanent rope burns from the tube when connected to the pylon when it isn't being used. Wind catches the tube blows it forward enough for the rope to wrap an arm or god forbid a neck and the tube flies back behind the boat with the rope injuring passengers in the back seat. I usually secure the tube to the top of the tower when we aren't using it. I also sometimes will let it sit on the platform. When back there I connect the tube directly to the grab handle on the transom so there is no way it can fly toward a passenger. I also always store ski ropes to Velcro fasteners on the tower.

77b53b0d.jpg

Bill is right on point with the dangers of ropes in the boat.

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I believe it. I'm here to tell you guys, the rope is the most dangerous thing we all have on the boat. Everyone is cautious around things like props & fins. But the rope is so innocent.

I know I've told the story about a friend in Ohio who lost his big toe. After everyone rode for the day, they are railin back to the marina at high speed, SkySki sitting on the engine cover of their VLX, rope laying in a heap on the floor, handle sitting next to the SkySki. The boat goes thru some big chop, no one is paying much attention to the back of the boat, the SkySki bounces out of the boat & takes the handle with it....... seconds later the rope takes Don's big toe with it.

Their in total pandemonium, Don is bleeding badly, probably screamin his head off. They call 911 & the ambulance is at the marina when the come in. They all leave for the hospital & leave the boat to the marina attendant who puts the boat away. A week or so later Don's buddies come down to the boat to use it again..... and what do they find? But Don's big toe.

Now they call that boat the "Offical Toe Boat".

No lie. Funny, yes. But a true story. Be VERY careful around the rope!!!

the rope is the most dangerous thing we all have on the boat. so very very true.

  • Like 1
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This site has taught me a lot about ropes, never thought of them as much of a threat before. Now I'm very aware of it. My "worry" level goes down 50% when we are done riding and I remove the rope from the tow point.

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One of the nastier things I have had to deal with was a rope injury that occurred when a jet ski was towing a tube in the river. The observer on the back of the jet ski bounced off and landed straddling the tow rope. The injury that resulted was pretty bad. I was in the OR for a couple of hours putting her back together, reattaching parts that had detached. I won't go into detail. She actually healed quite well, but it didn't look good at first.

I respect the rope.

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I can see how this happened and was truly an accident. She was riding in the tube, butt down and legs dangling out the front. Driver whips her hard starboard and then turns into her slightly. Rope goes slack, tube continues to rotate counter clockwise now that it has no load from the boat. Slack rope wraps around her right ankle, rope becomes taught, pop goes the foot while yanking her out of the tube.

I know, I have seen it happen. Fortunately no loss of limb. This was eons ago when I was a college kid out with some buddies. Scarred the He// out of me as I was driving. I saw the whole situation unfolding. Instead of just killing the throttle, I actually turned hard starboard toward the tubber and then killed the throttle to keep the rope from ever coming taught. Everyone laughed because they thought I was some sort of stunt driver. I was pretty shaken up and we were done tubing for the day.

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martinarcher

Ouch! After hearing a lot of close call stories with long surf ropes, I've been pretty anal about getting the little handle on our rope even with the pocket so you don't need to choke up much if any. Is that you hand?

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I believe it. I'm here to tell you guys, the rope is the most dangerous thing we all have on the boat. Everyone is cautious around things like props & fins. But the rope is so innocent.

I know I've told the story about a friend in Ohio who lost his big toe. After everyone rode for the day, they are railin back to the marina at high speed, SkySki sitting on the engine cover of their VLX, rope laying in a heap on the floor, handle sitting next to the SkySki. The boat goes thru some big chop, no one is paying much attention to the back of the boat, the SkySki bounces out of the boat & takes the handle with it....... seconds later the rope takes Don's big toe with it.

Their in total pandemonium, Don is bleeding badly, probably screamin his head off. They call 911 & the ambulance is at the marina when the come in. They all leave for the hospital & leave the boat to the marina attendant who puts the boat away. A week or so later Don's buddies come down to the boat to use it again..... and what do they find? But Don's big toe.

Now they call that boat the "Offical Toe Boat".

No lie. Funny, yes. But a true story. Be VERY careful around the rope!!!

I absolutely agree 100%. Living in a big lobstering community and doing it myself for awhile I have seen a ton of rope misshapes, the worst being a good friend (that actually got me the job on the boat I was on at the time) loosing his life to a rope, we were the first to the boat that was still in gear circling, I was the first on the boat. The rope somehow got his hand and drug him to the back of the boat, and pined him there. no one knows for sure if he had a hart-attack (sp) before the rope got him, or after, struggling to get free, I barely touched the rope with a knife and it broke form so much tension. I have seen a rope actually jump 4-5 feet for unknown reason (tangle, loop pulled tight, snagged on the floor or washboard, or whatever) when going over the side of a boat, and it happens fast, and this is at 5-8mph, not cruising 20-30mph. Most people have knifes at the hauler, under the washboard at the end of the boat, and alot are wearing them now. Respect the rope. We buy the bigger ropes for tubing and surfing, It still is going to hurt if it loops you, but it seems the bigger the rope, the less chance of it cutting, it also seems to be harder for it to loop/tangle and catch you the bigger it is. We actually have a 3/4in sampson braid rope we have cut into three peaces and braided back together at the end for a big spot to hold on to for a surf rope.

Edited by mainekneeboarder
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RESPECT THE ROPE!

Good advice, Mainekneeboarder! And that includes all of it, including the handle.

Another friend of mine down in Texas had a problem with a handle that was in bad condition..... missing the plastic tubing & floats on the sides. Very promising, young SkySki rider with a BIG bag of tricks. He cut out to the side of the wake, did a big jump & a gainer (back flip), which is done one handed. As he came back around on the landing he went to regrab with the other hand. The handle looped around his 2 middle fingers & topped them at the first knuckle. I heard he didn't even crash, but let go of the rope & dropped, hand bleeding badly. No chance of finding the missing digits. Never has been able to ride since.

I use a CinchMax quick release on my own rope everytime I ride. I don't know that it would have helped in the accident I listed, but I'm pretty sure that handle should have been thrown in the garbage. A quick lease will cut loose if the rider gets hung up in the rope for any reason. If you guys are out there learning new tricks, especially anything involving a handle pass, GET A RELEASE! An automatic release will cut loose without any intervention, but not till you get up to like 600 or 700 lbs of tension. A manual release can be cut loose by the spotter if something is going bad.

A few models we use:

http://www.cinchmax.com/id3.html - automatic, stays on the rope so it goes with you from boat to boat.

http://skyski.com/st...ck-release.html - the best, both manual & automatic

http://www.samsonspo...et_release.html - automatic, stays on the rope so it goes with you from boat to boat.

http://www.lakeelmos...home.php?cat=52 - old school, manual, been making quick releases for show skiers forever.

Edited by Bill_AirJunky
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