MAILI, Hawaii (KHON2) — Nineteen-year-old Wyatt Worthen from Mililani is recovering from serious injuries after being run over by a speeding boat while spearfishing off Maili over the weekend. Officials are still looking for the boat driver, who left the scene without stopping.
Worthen said he was coming up for air when he came face to face with a speeding boat.
“I guess I started hearing the boat, but I didn’t really think it was going to be that close and then once I kind of break the water, it’s kind of coming straight on my face already, so I tried to get out the way as fast as I can,” said Worthen.
But not fast enough. The boat sliced into Worthen’s arm, leg and foot. His shredded diving fins tell the story of how close he came to the rudder.
The incident happened on Saturday around 3:30 in the afternoon. Worthen and his friends were spearfishing off Ulehawa Beach.
Jonah Daszek was on shore and said the boat blew by them.
“We’re like, oh, dang, he’s flying it, and then we’re just looking at the boat. Then right after that, we kind of heard Wyatt maybe, like, two to five minutes later, he was like, all calling for help.”
Worthen said he had no idea how badly he was hurt.
“Not really until I got ashore. My adrenaline was kind of pumping. One of my friends told me, like, ‘Oh, dude, you’re bleeding a lot.’ And I didn’t really realize it until I actually looked at it,” said Worthen. “One of the uncles on the beach, they gave me like a makeshift tourniquet, to cut off my circulation to my arm.”
Worthen has more than 30 stitches and will have to undergo surgery for his hand.
The speeding boat is described as a 13-foot red and white glass pro with a white hard top. Witnesses said there was a man and woman on board.
DOCARE and Honolulu police are investigating the case, but have not made any arrests.
DLNR rules are all vessels are supposed to move at a slow no-wake speed near shore and stay 100 feet from a diving flag, which Worthen said was out there in the water where he was spearfishing.
Daszek said he and his friends have had several close calls over the years they’ve been spearfishing and diving.
“Just be aware. You know you’re licensed for this like you, you should know that there’s going to be people in the area, especially when you’re as close as they were to shore,” said Daszek.
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Worthen vows to be back in the water, eventually. “What happened, happened. You know, just gotta power through it. Luckily, I have my friends there to help me, support me and get me through this.”
Anyone with information on the boat is asked to call police.