Man suffers serious facial injuries while fishing for prawns off Lewis

A fisherman suffered serious facial injuries in a horror accident off the Western Isles.

A lifeboat and a rescue helicopter were immediately sent to go to the aid of the man after he was badly injured while fishing for prawns in the Minch off Lewis.

Stornoway RNLI lifeboat launched at 4.25pm on Monday to go to the assistance of the injured crewman aboard a local fishing boat.

“The crewman had suffered a serious facial injury during fishing operations 12 miles east of Stornoway,” said a spokesperson for the lifeboat.

“The Coastguard helicopter also attended from Stornoway, and arrived on scene 10 minutes ahead of the lifeboat, landing his paramedic winchman aboard the fishing boat to treat the casualty.

“On arrival of the lifeboat the casualty and winchman were transferred from the fishing boat to the lifeboat, where the casualty received further treatment as the lifeboat returned to Stornoway at full speed, the Coastguard winchman being lifted off the deck at 25 knots.

“Once back alongside at 5.30pm, the casualty was handed over to Scottish Ambulance Service paramedics and taken to the Western Isles Hospital for further treatment.”