US mum’s feet severed by boat propeller on Lake Michigan

A woman has recalled the horror moment her feet were severed by a boat propeller after a collision, describing it as “unimaginable pain”.

A woman said she thought she was “going to die” when the raft she was on was sucked underneath a passing vessel and its propeller severed both her feet.

Lana Batochir, 34, a mother-of-two, from the US, was spending Saturday on the water in the so-called “Playpen” area on Lake Michigan with her friends when disaster struck, the New York Post reports.

The group were floating on a raft when a rental boat that was setting anchor nearby malfunctioned and began to drift, according to the state Department of Natural Resources.

That boat’s captain reversed the boat, causing it to suck in the floatie carrying Lana and her friends – with her husband on another boat dragging the raft behind it, according to CBS News.

Lana Batochir, 34, in the hospital after having both her feet severed by a boat propeller. Picture: GoFundMe

Lana and her friends were spending time in the ‘Playpen’ area on Lake Michigan in Chicago on Saturday when they had a run-in with another boat. Picture: CBS 2

“Everything happened so fast. We were all under his boat within seconds,” Lana wrote in the description of a GoFundMe campaign she launched this week.

She said she felt “unimaginable pain” when the boat’s propeller struck her.

“I thought I was dying,” she recounted. “I fought for my life for seconds which felt like minutes. I began to drown, I couldn’t swim.”

Lana said she managed to get her head above water, and from a distance she saw her husband’s panic-stricken eyes searching for her.

A propeller severed both of the woman’s feet and she nearly drowned, but was rescued by her husband. Picture: CBS 2

Lana with her husband and their two children before the accident.

“I would never forget his face of pain,” the woman wrote. “We connected eyes, but I couldn’t stay up, I truly began to drown. I felt myself drifting down like an object, I knew I would die.”

Lana said her husband saved her life when he rushed to her side and pulled her out of the water.

“As I was getting pulled onto the boat I glanced at my legs and realised that both my legs were gone,” she recalled.

Lana (left) said she will have to undergo a below-the-knee amputation. Picture: GoFundMe

Chicago police marine officers rescued Lana’s 28-year-old friend, who had part of her hands severed by the propeller.

Lana wrote that she was scheduled to have a below-the-knee amputation on both legs and nerve surgery, followed by a lengthy rehabilitation period during which she’ll have to learn how to walk on prosthetic legs.

Lana said she loves to dance. Going forward, she will have to learn to walk on prosthetic legs. Picture: GoFundMe

“Anyone who knows me knows that I love to dance, love music, and enjoying life itself with family,” the mum wrote. “My life has completely changed because of one unfortunate tragedy.”

But she added on a more optimistic note, “even though it feels like the worst thing that happened to me, I still feel very lucky to be alive”.

Lana shared that she is “one of the many people who don’t have health insurance in this country,” and so she is seeking $US250,000 ($A363,000) to help cover her medical bills at Northwestern Memorial Hospital.

As of Wednesday afternoon, more than $US74,000 ($A107,000) has been raised. The incident has been deemed an accident, but the state Department of Natural Resources Conservation Police will investigate further and determine if the captain of the boat that struck the raft should face charges.

This article originally appeared on the NY Post and was reproduced with permission