This week, we’re launching “Center Stage,” a weekly series profiling an inspiring guest from Peter Greenberg Worldwide Radio. As part of Peter’s ongoing boating safety campaign, we have the story of Chandler Balkman, a 17-year-old high school student whose suffered a devastating boating accident… and came out a winner.

On the morning of his 17th birthday on June 8th, Chandler Balkman water-skied with his family. His mother, Susan, 46, filmed the event, and his family cheered. It was like any other day for this Issaquah, Washington native, as part of a boating family that lived on a lake.

Except it wasn’t.

Chandler was water skiing with one leg, and it was his — and most of his family’s — first time in a boat since one fateful night last August.

That night, after an intense lacrosse game, Chandler jumped into Lake Sammamish with his father to cool off, and swam a route to the buoy he had canvassed a million times before.

“I’ve swam out to the buoy many times. It’s about 150 yards and I guess I was too comfortable. I took a risk by swimming out there,” Chandler recalled in a phone conversation.

He was swimming underwater when his sister, Jessica, 19, accidentally ran over him with the family boat. It was dark, she couldn’t see, and the propeller sliced through his right pelvis, hitting an artery. His older brother Geoff, 23, heard the commotion, grabbed a canoe from his family’s boat shed, paddled over to his brother and father, and lifted Chandler inside, saving his life. Chandler was taken to Harborview Medical Center, where surgeons had to amputate his leg from the hip down.

“His biggest fear was what it would be like to live with one leg,” said his mother Susan.

However, Chandler and family refused to let this accident change their lives.

Doctors told him that he would not be able to walk again. He now walks up to six hours a day. In addition to waterskiing, Chandler has played tennis in a wheelchair, snow skied, hiked and continues to swim. Chandler will finish his junior year on time although he was out for months recovering, continues to pursue his photography hobby, and will follow his dream of becoming a surgeon.

And although the Balkman family has spent the past year working on Chandler’s recovery, they have also become actively involved in promoting boating safety, in particular the issue of prop guards.

“Chandler has a lot of respect for the power of boats. The accident was a freak situation and he has been very cautious about the motor and driving, but we feel like an easy solution could be prop guards on boats,” said his mother.

The family feels that Chandler would have just had a broken leg if a prop guard were installed on their boat. They say that they have been unable to find a manufacturer to produce a prop for their particular type of boat. They have been working with a group called S.P.I.N (Stop Propeller Injuries Now) to get the message out to family and neighbors to prevent future accidents. Boating experts’ opinions vary on whether installing prop guards would make a difference in accidents.

Regardless, Chandler said the main point discovered “was the power of a positive attitude. It powers everything that I do.”

To find out more about Chandler Balkman, his amazing recovery, and boating safety listen to Peter Greenberg Worldwide this week or download the podcast at https://iradionow.com.

By Cara Tabachnick for Petergreenberg.com

For more information on boating safety, check out “Boating Safety Basics”.