New boating safety video carries vital message, shows collision off Palm Beach that cost man his arm

The latest water safety video from the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission is not easy to watch. It offers a horrific account of what can go wrong when boat operators fail to use caution while motoring near swimmers and snorkelers.

But the lessons are about much more than just safety awareness. Thanks to the participation of two unusual and compelling narrators, there are messages about forgiveness, contrition and the power of harvesting something positive from the darkness of unimaginable tragedy.

Meet the unlikely narrators.

Carter Viss of Jupiter lost his right arm on Thanksgiving Day 2019 when he was struck by the propellers of a triple-engine pleasure boat while snorkeling off Palm Beach. Danny Stanton of Palm Beach was at the controls of the 36-foot Yellowfin that plowed over Viss that day.

Viss spent eight months at St. Mary’s Medical Center, undergoing painful surgeries before adjusting to life with one arm and two scarred legs.

A tale of survival: Hit by a boat in the ocean, he watched his arm fall off. Now Carter Viss tells his tale

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Stanton pleaded “guilty best interest” to charges of reckless operation of a vessel, a misdemeanor. He could have been sentenced to up to a year in the county jail. Instead, a judge reluctantly granted a request by Viss to sentence Stanton, the man who nearly killed him, to just one year of probation.

But the probation came with an unusual requirement: Stanton had to publicly tell his story in a safety video sponsored by the FWC, the agency that charged him in the incident. Viss, who’d already started sharing his personal story as part of his own public education initiatives, was only too happy to co-star.

A year in jail averted — for a price

Participating in the video brought back painful memories for the two narrators, but both agreed it was a valuable endeavor.

“It can be a little difficult to watch in some parts because it really brings me back to the accident, but it's powerful and very moving,” said Viss. “I think it will make a big impact.”

Released in late May, the video shows never-before-seen footage of the boat strike, albeit grainy and practically invisible because it was shot from a security camera north of The Breakers hotel, nearly a thousand yards from where Stanton’s boat struck Viss.

Also in the video: photos of an unconscious Viss in the hospital and a distraught Stanton on the beach with police moments after helping bring Viss ashore to a waiting ambulance.

At the end of the film, which clocks in at nearly 5½ minutes, Viss and Stanton talk to each other, at times smiling, about their shared mission to prevent boat-on-swimmer strikes from happening again.

It’s the first FWC safety video featuring both an accident survivor and a boat operator who caused the accident. And the participation of the two compelling co-stars, agency officials said, will no doubt connect with the public in a way typical safety videos cannot.

“Seeing Carter, the victim in this, working with the operator of the boat was impressive,’’ said Brian Rehwinkel, the FWC's boating and waterways outreach and education coordinator. “It's a testament certainly to Carter but also to Danny that they worked together in seeing something positive come out of a really tragic situation.’’

Stanton, as part of his probation terms, paid about $2,000 for the video. It was recorded in a studio at Legal Graphicworks of West Palm Beach in the presence of FWC officials, Stanton’s attorney Doug Duncan and Assistant State Attorney Joseph Kadis, who prosecuted Stanton.

“There’s not a lot of warm fuzzy feelings between participants in litigation,’’ said Dan Doskey, a Legal Graphicworks vice president. “I thought it was a beautiful thing that they were coming together and working together toward this common goal of keeping people safe.’’

The video starts off with a soundtrack personal to one of the co-stars: Johann Sebastian Bach’s Prelude No. 1 in C Major, as performed on piano by Viss, with his left hand, roughly a year after the accident.

As the music plays, both Viss and Stanton, in separate interviews, offer their recollections of the accident.

“I hear this especially loud boat sound … I look to my north … and I saw the large hull of a boat headed straight toward me. …  I just braced for some kind of impact. First thing I noticed was this right arm is completely gone. ... I looked down I saw my arm on the reef. …’’

Diver, boat driver recall impact as video of crash plays

As Viss talks, the time-stamped video of the actual accident is shown. Viss is not visible in the footage. Stanton’s boat, tiny in the footage, can be seen as it motors south before slowing to turn back and pull Viss from the water.

“I heard Carter screaming,’’ Stanton says in the video, at times struggling for words. “And I saw a cloud of blood in the water and at that point it was obvious that I'd hit somebody. ... Those images will be with me for the rest of my life.’’

The end of the video is about Viss’ campaign for safety reforms, including a proposal to replace the traditional diver-down flag with a larger three-dimensional diver-down flag mounted on a buoy. As part of his probation, Stanton has enlisted State Sen. Bobby Powell to sponsor the legislation.

“This is a huge tragedy,’’ Viss says in the video, “and out of that tragedy can come something great.’’

Viss said he plans to use the video as the main tool in his campaign.

“Kind of my main way to share this story to lawmakers, senators and anyone who is interested in helping,’’ he said. “I can send it to someone: Here’s the full story. Here’s what we want to change.’’

The FWC released the video in late May as part of a Memorial Day weekend safety campaign. They’ll promote it again for Labor Day weekend.

Promoting water-safety change 

“We can't undo what has already happened,’’ said the FWC’s Rehwinkel, “but hopefully some good things will come of this and make a difference, maybe prevent this from happening to someone else.’’

When they finished shooting their interviews at the studio that day last August, Viss and Stanton did not go their separate ways. They met up at Civil Society Brewing in West Palm Beach, just another two guys unwinding over a few beers.

“It was an extremely healing experience for me just to be in a casual place with him and have a normal conversation,” said Viss, who reached a confidential settlement to a civil negligence lawsuit that he filed against Stanton.

“Lawyers have always been around when I've been around him, so this gave us a chance to talk like normal people and get to know each other.’’

The idea of a man who lost his arm to a boat strike sharing a beer with the man who was driving the boat that struck him might seem hard to accept. But to Viss and Stanton, it just underscores the most poignant of the video’s many messages.

“A universal message of forgiveness, of moving past conflicts or potential adversaries and working toward better things, which is a message this world really needs right now: Working with the people who wronged you and kind of getting over that and thinking about better things,” Viss said.

“To get too hung up on holding grudges or caught up in the negative aspects of the story will cause nothing but anger and destruction and really will go nowhere.’’

This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Post: FWC water-safety video teams maimed snorkeler, boater who struck him