A YOUNG diver says he is lucky to be alive after an horrific accident in Plymouth Sound.

Experienced watersports instructor Pete Mills has undergone three operations to sew up the massive eight-inch deep hole after he collided with a powerboat in a freak accident just off the Hoe.

The 24-year-old, from Whitleigh, was scallop diving just metres from The Waterfront restaurant when an unsuspecting boat owner ran him down, leaving him to fight his way back to the shore with a hefty chunk of his left buttock ripped clean off by the powerful engine.

Pete said he felt lucky to be alive after ducking away from the 18ft boat at the last second, the sharp Mercury 300 propeller blades cutting into his body just inches from his spine and vital nerves.

Now he has issued a stark warning to all watersports enthusiasts in the wake of the accident, urging everyone to take extra care in the water this summer to prevent any similar disasters.

Pete, who spent three days in Derriford Hospital ahead of his third operation at the weekend, told The Herald how he feared for his life when he saw the speeding boat suddenly heading in his direction.

He said: "I was just getting ready to dive and I heard something approaching me from the left.

"I looked up and saw this massive powerboat coming towards me – it was very scary.

"I managed to dive underneath it just in time but the propeller struck me right on the backside.

"I didn't realise how bad it was at first – I bobbed back up and my only thought was to swim ashore.

"When I got there I was in a lot of pain and there was a lot of blood so I cut my T-shirt in half and strapped up my backside.

"It's hard to remember what happened after that, I guess I was in shock."

Pete's friend Chris Mills rushed to his aid and paramedics were quickly on the scene, giving him morphine and rushing him straight into theatre at Derriford Hospital, where surgeons immediately got to work on the wound.

What doctors found after the accident, which happened on Sunday, June 14, was a cavernous hole in Pete's left buttock, falling just short on the bone. At six inches long and eight inches deep, photographs of the injury – which was left open for five days to prevent infection – are too graphic to print.

Pete, a canoe and kayak instructor at the Mount Batten Centre, went under general anaesthetic again two days later as surgeons changed 'packing' which had been inserted into his laceration to support the wound. A third operation on Friday saw him stitched up with 20 heavy-duty staples and a drain – but the scar is likely to last a lifetime.

"The doctors said it is like a gunshot wound," said Pete, who is now being looked after at home by his girlfriend.

"I'm going to have a massive scar but I feel very lucky to still be here.

"If I hadn't have ducked out of the way of the boat it would have gone over my back, and the cut is close to the sciatic nerve – if it went through that I may not have been able to walk again."

Pete, who also works in catering at Mount Batten and as a photographer in Barbican nightclub Oceana, now faces a nervous week-long-wait before finding out when he can get back on his feet – and in the water.

"At the moment sitting down is too painful," he added. "I'm still in a lot of pain – and the worst thing is we'd only been out there for 13 minutes. I'd got one scallop.

"I just want people to be more careful – it's coming into the summer now and the Hoe is going to be absolutely heaving."

The boat owner, who does not wish to be identified, contacted The Herald to send Pete his best wishes following the accident. It is understood the four people on board, all from outside the city, continued on their way unaware they had hit the unlucky diver.

Pc Daniel Box, who has been handling the incident, said police enquiries were ongoing.

"We are liasing with the Ministry of Defence and the Queen's Harbour Master in relation to this incident," he said. "It did result in a nasty injury and I want to remind everyone to be safe in the water – everyone needs to be paying attention, both boat owners and divers."

A spokesman for the Maritime and Coastguard Agency added: "The popularity of watersports continues to grow, but with it comes a greater need for knowledge and safety awareness."