Tourist 'nearly sliced in two' by boat propeller in Bahamas holiday hit-and-run

A tourist was nearly sliced in half when he was hit by the propeller of a boat as he was snorkelling.

Dad-of-two Brent Slough,from Prosper, Texas, had been on a family vacation to the Bahamas when he was struck on June 30. He was taken in a critical condition to a hospital in Miami, Florida, after he suffered multiple fractures and deep gashes.

Brent had been snorkelling some 20ft away from the shore of Exuma when a speedboat with two people onboard raced through the water and hit him before darting away. The 42-year-old former Army Ranger had been with his wife, Whitney, as well as their two daughters who witnessed the horror unfold.

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"I felt like a thump thump, and I was like, ‘did I just get hit by a boat?'" Brent told CBS Texas. "My left leg wasn’t functioning, and I felt like something was wrong with my lower body."

The cut from the blades was so powerful that it nearly severed Brent just below his buttocks. Whitney recalled the incident, adding: "His bottom was almost completely detached from his legs."

Brent somehow managed to pull himself up through the water and saw the boat that hit him speed off into the distance. He said: "So I surfaced and I looked to my right and I see two guys in a boat and one of them looks back and they just keep on going."

His older daughter raced to help him and ended up pulling him to shore using a float. He was then taken to a hospital before he was transferred to a medical centre in Nassau about 30 minutes away.

But when the care at both facilities seemed "insufficient" to the family, Brent was ultimately airlifted on an ambulance jet back to the US where he underwent surgery. He said: "The doctor told me, ‘Please get to a hospital in Miami, you need to get to the US for something this traumatic.'"

Doctors fear his injuries remain life-threatening due to lacerations that can become infected. Whitney left their daughters in the Bahamas in order to travel to Miami with Brent.

"I breaks my heart because we're not on vacation together, and we are not with our girls at the same time," she said. "I'm so grateful that he's alive."

Brent was a graduate of West Point before he became an Army Ranger with six years of service, during which he served one tour of Iraq. A GoFundMe page has been set up following the incident with $75,163 being raised out of an $80,000 target.

"His upcoming medical needs are great - but we know God will move to make this happen for the Slough family," the page said.