| Katherine Hall
It was August 15th, 1957, at Canandaigua Lake, New
York, a beautiful day and one that I was looking forward to. I spent summers with my
grandparents on the lake and my mother was coming to spend the day with me. I was dressed
for the occasion, a pretty pink shorts outfit. I was waiting for her arrival when a friend
came by in his boat; my cousin was with him. I asked if I could go for a ride. They were
both much older so I was thrilled when they said yes. I sat on the bow looking back
towards them, my feet in the boat. We started off, shouting at another friend in his boat
as we passed him. After we rounded the point, out of view of the “grownups” the
driver started rocking the boat.
I
fell overboard. The driver turned the bow of
the boat away from me bringing the propeller in contact with my head like an ax. The pin
sheared, the engine was only 15hp and my head hard. Of course the engine stopped and the
boat coasted away from me. My friend dove in and swam to me. I was treading water, a
natural reaction for a longtime swimmer. Luckily the boy we shouted at had followed us.
They got me in his boat and took me to my aunt’s house, which was closer than home,
and to help. I got out of the boat under my own power, my aunt saw all the blood and
yelled at them to pick me up. A doctor was called. My grandfather arrived. I asked him if
I were going to die. He said “no, only
the good die young!”
The
doctor arrived and so did my mother. No time for an ambulance, they drove me to the
hospital holding a white rag out the window and driving very fast. A neurosurgeon was
called from a bigger hospital in Rochester New York. He operated 6 hours to remove a
splinter of bone from on top of my brain. Three days later, on my 12th
birthday, I was taken off the critical list. I was going to survive albeit with a hole in
my head.
After
several months at home I was allowed to return to school but most of my activities were
curtailed as the hole in my head left me too vulnerable. I could not ride a school bus. I
could not take gym or even go into the school bookstore. I had to sit up front next to the
teacher.
My
father began to design a cage to surround the propellers of outboard engines to prevent
anyone else from getting hurt, or more likely killed, by a propeller. He was an
aeronautical engineer, a graduate of Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Upon trying to
patent his design he was told there were hundreds of them! He was discouraged and upset
that no one was using these inventions.
The
following summer I was not allowed to stay at my grandparents. My parents took me to
another lake where I would not be around my friends who were water skiing, my favorite
pastime. My dad made a fiberglass helmet that could be worn under a bathing cap so I could
swim. Two years passed and the hole in my head did not close-up; something had to be done
so I could resume a normal life. It was decided to put in a metal plate. This was done
during my freshman year of high school. The worrying about a blow to the head could stop.
However, there were other considerations: my parents were told it was very likely that I
would suffer from epileptic seizures. Although I did not know this, they continued to
worry. Emotionally while they worried I remained a pampered child. My parent’s lives
were forever changed. They both died in their 50s. We’ll never know whether this
tragedy of mine contributed to their early deaths. I think perhaps it did. What I do know is that not a day goes by that some
thought of the accident doesn’t come to mind. My foremost thought is about how many
lives, and limbs, could be saved if propellers had protective guards.
Your story of a propeller strike can help inform.
As a victim of a propeller strike, we know retelling your story is reliving it. This is
hard. You want to put it behind you, focus on the healing, on the future and to make the
best of what you have left. We respect that. However, you can help SPIN by telling your
story. You may just reach out with the story that prevents the next accident and saves a
future propeller victim. Your story will reach the U.S.Coast Guard and be available to
policy makers and legislators.
You may contact us in many ways:
S.P.I.N. - Stop Propeller Injuries Now
2365 Conejo Court
Los Osos, CA, 93402
tel. 805-528-0554 - fax. 805-526-8756
email: spinsafety@gmail.com
Send us your story. |
