A mother-of-three tragically died after falling off a pleasure boat and getting sucked into the vessel’s propeller.
38-year-old Laura Perry was enjoying her trip to Broads National Park in Norfolk, England, where her family rented a pleasure boat to explore the local waters and relax on the 42-foot vessel.
As the inquest heard, things went awry some time into the trip when the family’s boat hit a wall, causing Laura to fall off the deck and get pulled in by the boat’s razor-sharp propeller.
According to the court documents, the victim’s sister, who was in control of the vessel at the time, attempted to press the emergency button to stop the propeller but wasn’t able to locate it due to “cursory” safety instructions the family had received.
Unfortunately, Laura succumbed to the injuries inflicted by the propeller and was declared dead after getting pulled out of the water.
“No one on board fully understood the functionality of the dual helm controls and the driver was unaware of the upper engine stop button,” deputy chief inspector Graham Wilson of the Marine Accident Investigation Branch said.
The report also branded the safety video the family was shown before they were let on the boat as “incomplete” and “cursory.”
It further argued that training should be “complete and vigorous” to ensure that accidents like this do not happen.
“Laura walked aft on the upper deck and climbed down the stairs. She started to go through the door to tend to her son, who was crying below,” Wilson added as he elaborated on the circumstances surrounding the accident.
“Sadly, at the exact moment, she opened the aft door, that is when the Diamond Emblem 1 hit the wall quite heavily. It bounces off the wall and, at that point, Laura is thrown violently backwards into the water.
“Laura was sucked into the propeller and become entangled with it.”
The inspector added: “It is incredibly unfortunate that Laura happened to be where she was with nothing to grab onto.
“She was actually three feet from the back of the boat. Had she taken one step further into the cabin space, it is unlikely she would have fallen overboard.”
Our thoughts are with Laura’s family – especially her three children – during this challenging time.
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