BOCA RATON, Fla. (WSVN) – A family’s celebration is cut short after a boat crash on the Delray Beach Intracoastal Waterway sends the father to the hospital and a search begins for the man on the boat. The family said they fled the scene.
The family, who asked not to be named for safety reasons, said the accident happened on the night of December 7th.
“(That rower) could have killed us all,” said one family member.
A woman on board the boat described the terrifying moments immediately after the collision.
“My husband started yelling, ‘Stop the engine!’ Stop the engine. I was so scared that I was about to cry, but I thought one of the children had fallen into the water. ” she said.
The family said people on another boat appeared out of nowhere and attacked them.
“I was like, ‘What happened?’ I didn’t understand at first,” said the injured person’s daughter.
The daughter said she was standing in the exact spot where the boat hit minutes before the crash.
“All I remember is screaming, ‘Where’s dad?'” she said.
Her father had to be taken to the hospital due to injuries from the accident.
The victim’s wife said, “The man partially removed the glove from his pinky finger and sustained significant damage to his right biceps.” “My husband could have easily been killed.”
The family says the person who hit them paused for a moment, then
“We screamed, ‘No, it’s not okay, it’s not okay,’ and he turned around and headed south,” the victim’s wife said.
The family called the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, which is currently investigating.
“I’m just so grateful. I know it could have been much worse,” the victim’s wife said.
Going forward, she hopes boaters will take the waterways as seriously as they take roads.
“It’s just like getting behind the wheel of a car. You have to be conscious,” she said.
FWC officials are still searching for the person who crashed the boat. The family said they have paid about $80,000 in compensation.
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