Inset: Nikkie Wittine (KERO/YouTube). Background: The area of the Colorado River in San Bernardino County, Calif., where Nikkie Wittine was floating on an inner tube when a hit-and-run boat driver struck her (Google Maps).
A California woman was allegedly mowed down by a speeding boater while tubing on the Colorado River, with her family saying she got "sucked in" and shredded by the propeller in front of her son, who also got "pulled in by the motor and shot out."
"The propeller grabbed her legs," said Ronald Wittine about his wife, Nikkie Wittine, in an interview with local ABC affiliate KERO.
"She was trying to jump off of [her tube] … and her feet planted in the air underneath the boat and got sucked in by the propeller," Ronald Wittine said.
The San Bernardino County Sheriff's Office says the "major" boating collision happened around 7 p.m. on Saturday, June 20, while Nikkie Wittine and her son were floating on inner tubes in the Colorado River, just north of the Needles Bridge.
"Upon arrival, deputies learned the adult victim [Nikkie Wittine] had been struck by a boat while floating down the river," an SBCSO press release says. "The victim sustained major injuries as a result of the collision."
Ronald Wittine says the Bakersfield couple's 15-year-old watched the horror unfold and was also pulled underneath the boat. He managed to quickly come up, though, and got his mom to safety, according to his dad.
"He's a real hero," Ronald Wittine told KERO. "For somebody that young to get sucked underneath a boat and get pulled in by the motor and shot out, and they come above water and go save his mom … it's just mind-blowing to me. You know, they wouldn't be here today if it wasn't for him."
A GoFundMe launched for the family says the boat that struck them was "traveling at high speed" when they both got hit. "While we are grateful that her son is physically okay, Nikkie suffered critical injuries and had surgery," the online fundraiser says.
The sheriff's office says emergency personnel transported Nikkie Wittine by air ambulance to a hospital in Las Vegas for treatment. The circumstances surrounding the collision are "currently under investigation" and no arrests have been made yet.
Sheriff's officials told KERO they are pursuing leads to find the person responsible.