Image: Boreal Community Media files

By Alexandra Burnley - Fox 21 News - June 5, 2022

A father boating with his adult son on Lake Vermilion on Sunday suffered from a severe hand injury as he fell out of his boat.

According to the St. Louis County Sheriff’s Office, the father’s hat blew off of his head, and as he tried to grab it he bumped the boat’s motor, causing it to turn and throwing him out of the boat.

Before he fell out, his hand got caught in a tiedown cleat on the boat, injuring his hand as he was ejected.

The adult son turned off the motor and pulled his dad into the boat.

The father and son boated back to Stuntz Bay Landing after calling 911, where they met up with first responders from the Tower and Breitung areas.

The dad was airlifted to a Duluth hospital.

Both the father and son were wearing lifejackets when the accident happened.