Chris Mastronardi took delivery of his new Outerlimits SV50 on July 1. The next day, he wound up using his boat as an impromptu ambulance to save the life of his friend.

The two were with a group of people that was spending Saturday recreating on land and sea near the United States/Canada border on Lake St. Clair. His friend was a passenger on a side-by-side all-terrain vehicle when it tipped over on top of him crushing his leg. He sustained a compound fracture with the bones breaking through the skin and he severed an artery.

This 50-foot Outerlimits V-bottom pulled duty as an ambulance and saved valuable time for the accident vicitim it transported. Photo courtesy/copyright Halsey Fulton.

One member of the party is friends with Dr. Greg Jasey, a renowned orthopedic surgeon in Canada. He called Jasey and explained the extent of the injury. The doctor said they needed to get the injured person to the hospital in Windsor, Ontario, as soon as possible.

There were a couple of nurses in the group and they wrapped the man’s leg as best they could. Then they decided that calling an ambulance and waiting for it to arrive would take too long. Mastronardi said that a group decision was made to load his friend in his boat and take him to Belle River Marina in Lakeshore, Ontario. “It had to be by boat,” said Mastronardi. “In hindsight we probably wasted too much time making the decision.”

They loaded the man into the SV50, laying him on the deck of the boat just ahead of the rear seat. Mastronardi estimated that the waves were averaging about 5’ to 6’ and he ran at 90 mph. He said they arrived at the marina in about 10 to 12 minutes. An ambulance was waiting to take his friend to the hospital.

“It definitely showed its ability to handle rough water,” said Mastronardi about his boat. “Considering everything, it was a good ride and as much pain as he was in, we got there pretty quick.”

Factor in the time it would have taken to call an ambulance, wait for it to arrive and the probability of road traffic, Mastronardi estimated that using conventional transportation would have taken an extra 90 minutes to two hours. Instead, the injured friend got the ride of his life in a boat that’s much cooler than any ambulance.

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