A B.C. man is lucky to have escaped without serious injury after he lost control of his vehicle while removing a boat from the water at Rocky Point Park in Port Moody.
It happened around 5:45 p.m.
Witness Josh Bishop told Global News the driver was pulling the boat out when it started to make a loud sound as the propeller made contact with the ramp.
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He got out and climbed into the boat to pull the propeller up, but appears to have left the vehicle in neutral with the emergency brake on, Bishop said.
That’s when both the boat and the vehicle began rolling backward.
In the video, the panicked driver can be seen leaping out of the boat, but falls on the ground and is almost rolled over by the vehicle, as shocked observers run to help.
“After I hit stop on the video we ran over to see if he was okay. We initially thought he got ran over by the tire,” said Bishop.
“He was scraped and bleeding a little. The bystanders called the police and firefighters quickly and asked if he needed an ambulance, he didn’t.”
Port Moody police and firefighters both responded to the incident and closed the boat launch.
Police said the driver was able to walk away with minor injures.
A tow truck was called to pull the car and boat out of the water, but pictures then showed a fire breaking out underneath the vehicle.
Firefighters were able to extinguish the fire, which is believed to have started with the electric vehicle’s battery.
—With files from Sean Boynton and Jennifer Palma