CITRUS COUNTY, Fla. — A picture from last July captures the moment in time Dr. Jason Wetmore would like to forget.
“I try not to think about it,” he said. “It’s a little bit traumatic, to be honest.”
Wetmore is lying on his back on the floor of a boat. You see the pain on his face, his daughter trying to comfort him, and the boat speeding — en route for an emergency room.
“For a second, I thought my legs had been ripped off to be completely honest with you,” he said.
What you don’t see in the picture is why Wetmore is so lucky to be back on his feet again and back with patients at his dentistry on Florida’s Space Coast, Ocean Breeze Dental. Last July, a relaxing day of snorkeling for scallops with friends and his two kids just off the coast of Citrus County near Crystal River turned into utter chaos.
“I looked up and was about to get run over by the bow of a boat,” Wetmore remembered. “I was able to dive off to my left and down, and the bow of the boat hit me and flipped me over on my back, and then, you know, the skeg and the prop got both of my legs.”
The boat strike nearly removed his legs. The violent, gruesome injury is best summed up by his shredded fin that officers recovered days later.
Luckily, Wetmore was not alone. Two friends helped remove him from the water and rushed him to help. The boater who hit Jason is still unknown and wanted by the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission for what’s believed to be a case of hit-and-run.
Wetmore believes that too, because he says he was following the rules. He used a flag to let boaters know he and other snorkelers were in the water. According to Wetmore, the flag was clearly visible, yet the boat that hit him passed within 75 feet of his boat, where the flag was prominently displayed.
According to Wetmore, after the unknown boater hit him, he or slowed down right after, and then sped off.
“I mean, he knows. I promise. You know, you don’t cut through multiple bones with your skeg and your propeller and not realize you hit something,” Wetmore said.
After months of rest, healing, and physical therapy, Wetmore is still not quite right. He still can’t feel the sensation in his right leg, which causes him issues with balance and prevents him from activities he previously enjoyed, like surfing and skateboarding.
“I’ve lost a full year of my life already, and I’ll never be able to do most of the things that I used to do,” Wetmore said.
However, he can walk again and work again too.
“The surgeons did a great job,” Wetmore said.
A year after the fateful day, he agreed to do an interview with ABC Action News because the person responsible for almost killing him is still at large.
Now, he’s ready to offer an even bigger reward for an arrest and conviction.
“I would be happy to offer a reward of $250,000,” he said.
Only then can he truly forget the awful day last July.
According to the FWC, witnesses described the vessel as a Robalo or Sea Fox boat with a top. It might be either white, beige, or blue.
Additionally, Wetmore said multiple people were on the boat when it struck him.
Anyone with information is asked to call FWC’s hotline at 888-404-FWCC (3922).
