Water skier airlifted to hospital with life-threatening injuries

A man remains in hospital with life-threatening injuries after a water skiing accident.

It happened during the Hanseatic Festival of Watersports on the River Great Ouse in King’s Lynn.

The two-day festival – which has been dubbed the largest of its kind in Europe – finished early on Sunday after a man in his 40s was injured.

Emergency services, including police, several road ambulances and the East Anglian Air Ambulance, were called to the South Quay at 4.45pm, after eyewitnesses said he lost control while travelling at 90mph.

Onlookers have described how he fell while trying to adjust his position and floated until being saved by a rescue boat.

The water skier was airlifted to Addenbrooke’s Hospital with injuries that Norfolk Constabulary has described as “life-threatening”.

The Borough Council of King’s Lynn & West Norfolk and the Hanseatic Festival of Water Sports organising committee have released a joint statement which said their thoughts were with the family and teammates of the injured skier.

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“We are also thinking of the other competitors and teams who were obviously shocked by this incident,” they said.

“Whilst any competitive motorsport is clearly not without risk, thankfully incidents of this nature are rare.

“Events of this scale involve significant planning and have a host of support personnel on standby, including rescue crew, divers, water and land-based paramedics, and further medical support.

“This meant accident procedures could be immediately initiated when the incident occurred, ensuring a quick and comprehensive response was provided to aid the casualty in the water.

“The borough council and organisers would like to thank all the emergency services, including Norfolk Accident Rescue Service (NARS) and Norfolk Police, for their rapid response to this incident, which allowed the casualty to be stabilised and airlifted to hospital as quickly as possible.

“Finally, organisers would like to expressly thank those who moved aside quickly to aid the emergency services to access the scene.

“Thanks also to those spectators who showed respect and dignity in not filming the incident as it unfolded.”