RedactedNarrative: On june 1, 2014 at approximately 4:00pm, a boating incident occurred on high rock lake in crane creek about 2.5 miles south of goodman lake rd bridge in salisbury, nc. The vessel was owned by tamarac marina, who rented it to subject. 
  
  Occupants of the vessel stated that while slowly cruising along on the lake, a hat blew out of the boat. The victim decided that he was going to jump into the lake to retrieve the hat. Seven people on the boat told him to leave the hat in the water and not to attempt to retrieve it because they knew that the victim was not a good swimmer. The victim decided not to listen and went to the bow of the pontoon, forward of the safety rails and sat down. 
  
  The operator steered the vessel near the hat that was floating on the water. When the vessel got close to the hat, the victim wearing a type 1 pfd decided to jump into retrieve the hat. The victim floated/swam underneath the boat between the two pontoons and hit the motor and propeller. The propeller blades cut the victim on the upper left thigh. Once the victim was clear of the motor, the operator jumped into the water in an attempt to rescue the victim. 
  
  During his rescue attempt, the operator was pushed under water by the panicking victim. At that point, passengers on board the vessel threw several type ii pfds to both men, which the operator used to stay afloat while in the water. The passengers on the boat moved a ladder to the port side of the pontoon and helped get the victim back on board. Once the victim was on board the boat, the operator used his shirt to apply pressure on the cut in an attempt to stop the bleeding. A passenger on board drove the boat to the closest shoreline. The owner of the residence, called 911 and assisted with general first aid. Once ems arrived, the victim was taken to rowan county hospital by ambulance and was later transferred to baptist medical center in winston salem, nc. The victim is recovering from a total of 6 lacerations to the left thigh. The one laceration was so deep that it shaved some bone off his pelvis. 
  
  The investigation revealed that the operator had very limited boating experience and had never taken a formal boating safety course. Due to his inexperience and limited knowledge of boat safety and operation, the operator did not put the boat in neutral to stop propeller once the victim jumped off the boat, resulting in a propeller injury to the victim.