On 5/28/2011 vessel one was towing vessel two to the shoreline and dock area on Cherokee Lake.  Vessel two was a totally disabled and stripped pontoon shell that the operator of vessel one and the victim decided to pull from the middle of the embayment and tie to shore to prevent a vessel from possibly striking it.  Vessel one was tied to vessel two with a rope that was attached to a ski pole in the rear area of vessel one.  

The victim had tied a knot securing the rope with what she referred to as a "falcon knot", a knot that contains a loop in it commonly used to restrain birds of prey.  The victim noticed the knot starting to slip at which point, she placed her index and middle finger of her left hand in the loop in order prevent the rope from coming loose.  Vessel one has had a recurring problem with the shift linkage, where the engine will often be at a higher RPM than normal before the forward drive engages.  As vessel one lurched forward suddenly, the rope went taught, causing the loop to tighten which in turn caught Victim''s fingers and caused them to immediately sustain injury.  

V1 Operator stated she saw one of the fingers to immediately fly off Victim''s hand and blood soon covered the front of Victim.  V1 Operator (being a nurse) began immediate first aid on the victim by applying pressure to the injury.  She continued aid while summoning help from a neighbor, who took operator from vessel one to vessel two, who operated the vessel the short distance to shore.  V1 Operator continued to care for the victim and kept her immobile until Grainger County EMS arrived at the scene and took over patient care.  The victim was transported to UT Medical Center.  Doctors were unable to reattach the immediately severed finger and were unable to save the other finger that was mangled to the point it could not be attached.

RUTLEDGE                      