We apologise in advance for the churning stomach this story is sure to trigger.
A British tourist is recovering in hospital after the skin and muscle of her leg were stripped away in a horrific boating accident off the Whitsundays on Saturday.
The woman in her 50s, visiting from Birmingham, was enjoying a two-day, two-night cruise around on 24m luxury yacht the British Defender when her leg got caught in a rope.
She somehow got dragged along the deck of the boat, smashing into handrails and higher-tension stainless steel wires that ‘degloved’ her lower leg: in medical terms, that’s means a section of skin was completely torn off the underlying tissue.
The horrific accident occurred at about 4:30pm, and medical staff boarded an inflatable boat from Whitehaven Beach to reach the yacht.
She’s currently in a stable condition at Mackay Base Hospital, where she’s no doubt on some serious pain medication.
A British Defender spokesman said the crew and other passengers are traumatised by the incident.
“At the moment we are trying to deal with our crew and other passengers,” he said.
“It is a very emotional time…right now we have six passengers that I am trying to counsel.”
We wish the woman a speedy recovery from what definitely won’t be a treasured holiday memory.
Source: ABC.
Photo: British Defender.
