Boy taking sailing lessons is hit by boat propeller, dies

Boy taking sailing lessons is hit by boat propeller, dies | iNFOnews.ca
A red rescue boat is hauled out of the water by the Suffolk County Police at the Centerport Yacht Club on Tuesday, July 18, 2017, in Centerport, N.Y. A 10-year-old boy was killed when he fell off a boat and was struck by a propeller while taking sailing lessons on New York's Long Island. Police say it happened after the sailboat he and two others were in was intentionally capsized as part of the lesson. An instructor pulled the boy into an adjacent motor boat, but he then fell out of that boat and was struck by the boat's propeller. (John Paraskevas/Newsday via AP)

CENTERPORT, N.Y. – A 12-year-old boy taking sailing lessons that involved deliberately capsizing his boat in suburban New York died after being struck by the propeller of his instructor’s rescue boat.

Police say the sailboat the boy and two others were in at the Centerport Yacht Club on Tuesday was intentionally capsized as part of the lesson. They say an instructor in a Zodiac inflatable boat pulled the boy into his boat and when it accelerated the boy fell off, hitting the propeller.

The instructor pulled the boy back into the boat and performed CPR until emergency responders arrived.

The boy suffered “massive injuries to the chest.” He was taken to a hospital, where he was pronounced dead. His identity hasn’t been released.

Officials at the yacht club have declined to comment.

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This story has been corrected to show the boy’s age is 12 not 10 per new information from police.

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Abbey Westbury

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