THE BOAT HARBOUR ACCIDENT

Dominion, Volume 19, Issue 44, 16 November 1925, Page 9

THE BOAT HARBOUR ACCIDENT

MR. BREEN IN SERIOUS CONDITION.

The accident to Mr. John Breen at the. Boat Harbour on Friday evening, which resulted in a fractured spine, was a most unusual one. It appears that Mr. Breen was painting the yacht Mini, as it stood on chocks on the side nearest the concrete wall, and therefore out of sight. What happened can only be surmised, but it is thought that Breen may have stumbled or knocked the side chocks or supports, and the boat—a fully-decked and cabined 18ft. yacht—toppled inwards on top of him. He was caught in a crouched position, and his head was doubled on to his chest to such an extent that his spine was fractured.

A bov was the first person to find out that the Mini had fallen over with Mr. Breen beneath it. He could do nothing, and ran off to tell someone. A man ran down to the spot with the boy, but one man and a boy were useless to lift the weight of the yacht from its victim, and finally it took the efforts of half-a-dozen men to raise the yacht and release the sufferer, who was hurried off to the hospital. Inquiries made at the hospital at a Tate hour last night elicited the information that there was no change in the patient’s condition. Mr. Breen is still in a very serious state.

The Mini, which is now a keeled yacht, was formerly a bulb-finned halfrater, and was originally owned by the late Mr. A. 11. Turnbull, who had her built on a Fyffe design.