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A sailor has been left horrifically disfigured after his out-of-control boat catapulted him overboard and face-first into the propeller blades.
Danny Round, from Auckland in New Zealand, was lucky to survive after the accident unfolded while he was boating around Fiji with a group of friends in October.
Despite being an experienced sailor, the 32-year-old said he underestimated the strength of the wind in a mistake that cost him three skull fractures, a broken jaw, a partially severed nipple and 150 stitches in his face, feet, hands, waist and chest.
Pictured: Chef Danny Round before he was catastrophically injured in a boating accident
Pictured: Danny Round, 32, after he was flung face-first into boat propellers in the South Pacific
The situation unfolded when the chef temporarily split from his friends to explore the remote islands of the South Pacific in a dinghy.
As he made his way back to the main sailboat, gusts picked up and the front of the small boat was lifted from the water before coming crashing back down.
‘I was flung off the boat and the kill cord [which is supposed to stop the engine if the driver loses control] came loose from my wrist,’ Mr Round said.
‘The boat went over me and the propellers went all the way up my body and hit me in the face.
‘I was covered in blood and just trying to get back to the boat but it was too dangerous because it was spinning out of control.’
Pictured: Danny Round receiving emergency medical care from another sailor, who is also a doctor, in the aftermath of the accident
Pictured: Danny round after he was flown to Suva Hospital in Fiji with severe injuries
Pictured: Danny Round being air-lifted to hospital after he was found by a passing boat
Mangled, bloodied and in excruciating pain, Mr Round said adrenaline alone kept him going until he was rescued by a passing vessel.
‘When they pulled me into the boat, it immediately filled with blood so they wrapped a towel around my head,’ he said.
‘Everyone thought I was going to die.’
His injuries were so severe a hero sailor, who was also a doctor, called for medical evacuation by helicopter and paid the $18,700 bill with his own credit card.
Mr Round was flown to a hospital in the Fijian capital of Suva.
Pictured: Mr Round’s chest was sliced open by the boat’s propellers
Danny Round’s nose was almost sliced off by boat propeller blades, and three of his teeth were displaced
Pictured: Danny Round with a face full of stitches during his recovery
Over the course of two operations, his jaw had to be re-broken and realigned by surgeons to help it close properly.
He also got metal plates and a skin graft from his ear to attempt to fix his nose, 60 stitches in his mouth and nose, ten over his chest and a partially missing nipple, and 20 more stitches to his right hand, which also sustained tendon damage.
Along with eight more stitches in his heel, Mr Round also had a hairline fracture on his top front tooth and three displaced teeth.
‘I’m scarred for life,’ he said.
‘My right nostril is constantly blocked so that’s uncomfortable.’
Danny Round said he still loves boating, despite the horrific accident that almost cost his him life
Danny Round’s jaw needed to be re-broken by surgeons so his mouth would close properly
Mr Round spent a couple of days in hospital then went to a friend’s for a week to recover and quickly got back into sailing, which he still loves (pictured after the accident)
Mr Round spent a couple of days in hospital then went to a friend’s for a week to recover and quickly got back into sailing, which he still loves.
He said: ‘For anyone going through a similar experience to me, keeping a very strong mindset helped my body to heal and staying positive,’ he said.
Mr Round says he owes his life to strangers who paid for his medical bills after the accident and has set up a Go Fund Me to help pay them back.
‘Danny’s saviors that day came from many different backgrounds and countries, yet banded together to save this young sailor’s life,’ the fundraiser says.
‘It proves that when truly in need, we can still put aside our differences and come together to save a life.’
Source: Daily Mail NZ
