A 20-year-old is fighting for his life after being struck by a boat propeller in the waters of the Lower Keys. NBC6 spoke with a man who witnessed the incident and jumped in the water to help.
Bodycam video shows the moments a man was pulled onto the dock after being hit by a propeller in the waters of the Lower Keys, according to the Monroe County Sheriff’s Office.
The victim, identified as 20-year-old Sean Bender, was lobstering near the Boca Chica Bridge with another man, Steven Bender, when he was hit by a 19-foot 1988 Stratos, according to an incident report by Sgt. J Moeller.
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The operator of that vessel said he was running under the bridge when he saw a person surface directly in front of his boat.
After he struck Bender, the operator stopped and brought both divers on board before driving to Key Haven Boat Ramp, where emergency response crews took Bender and flew him to a Miami hospital at around 8:09 a.m., according to the Monroe County Sheriff’s Office.
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Bender suffered lacerations to his head, neck, right arm and shoulder, the incident report details. He was breathing and “barely responsive.”
From interviews, Moeller gathered that “Steven and Sean had taken the inflatable dinghy from [their vessel, the Grady White,] to an area under the Boca Chica Bridge and were lobstering.”
The operator of the Stratos said he saw a dinghy “approximately two pilings over from where he struck the snorkeler,” and that it did not have a dive flag.
But a witness on another boat reportedly told a different deputy that there was a dive flag displayed.
When Moeller went to investigate and take pictures of the scene, the dinghy had been moved back to the Grady White by witnesses on that third boat.
The operator of the vessel does not currently face any charges in the crash.
The first day of lobster mini-season also saw at least two boats capsize and one catch fire in Miami-Dade County.
In Monroe County, four people were rescued from a vessel that was taking on water near Mile Marker 39 and a diver found a "package of suspected cocaine."
The investigation continues.
