Boat propeller amputates part of leg

PORTAGE, Mich. (WOOD) - Part of a woman's leg was amputated by a boat propeller Sunday.

It happened around 5:45 p.m. on Austin Lake in Portage.

Kirshaiah Brodie-Stevenson, 23, was tubing behind a boat, according to the Kalamazoo County Sheriff's Department. When the boat stopped to pick up one of the other people tubing, the driver didn't see Brodie-Stevenson and backed up toward her.

The Kalamazoo resident was pulled under the water and into the propeller, which cut off her leg near the knee, police said.

The other tubers managed to pull Brodie-Stevenson out of the water and into the boat and immediately called 911.

"The boat spotter was a medical care worker and she recognized the medical condition as being very grave very quickly. She was able to make a tourniquet and get it around her leg and quite frankly that's the only reason this girl survives today," said Kalamazoo County Undersheriff Pali Matyas.

Emergency personnel were already waiting at the dock in the 3000 block of Woodhams Avenue on the south side of the lake when the boat pulled up.

The woman's leg was still bleeding heavily when the boat arrived at the dock, according to Portage Fire and Rescue, but emergency personnel were able to stabilize her before taking her to a waiting ambulance.

She was transported to a hospital where she is in serious condition.

Police say surgeons were working to save as much of the victim's knee as possible so that she can be better fitted with a prosthetic.