CHICAGO (WBBM NEWSRADIO) -- A north suburban fisherman who said he was injured on Lake Michigan last July when Navy recruits came to his aid is frustrated that the government seems to be passing the buck and ignoring his claim.
Paul Calusinski said he has nightmares about the incident.
“My hand and arm are gone and actually I’m looking for it," he said.
Calusinski said he was three miles off-shore in his boat fishing when he hit something submerged and his boat started taking on water.
“All the sudden everything just went dead and we started taking water in the engine compartment," Calusinski said. "We saw what were like railroad ties and I think that’s what we hit."
Navy recruits were nearby and came to assist, but that is when Calusinski said everything went wrong.
One of the recruits threw a rope with a loop on the end. It was around Calusinski’s hand and a woman from the Navy boat told the operator to pull forward.
“Instead of going forward, he rips it into reverse. The rope rips my hand and jerks my whole arm and my shoulder and all of a sudden I just started bleeding pretty bad," he said.
The woman provided first aid, wrapping his hand. And Calusinski said while Navy crew started towing him in, with the boats side-by-side, against his advice. He said water was coming over the bow, the cleats broke and flew past his head.
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By then the Coast Guard had arrived and they told the Navy crew they’d take over. They got him in safely.
"The Coast Guard come over the radio and said stop, stop, we’re going to take over from here," he said.
Now, he’s had neck and shoulder surgeries and his claim against the Navy is in limbo.
His attorney, Peter DeLongis said the Navy needs the names of the Coast Guard crew.
“The legal department at the Coast Guard absolutely cannot divulge the names of these Coast Guard witnesses," he said.
“It’s very frustrating. I think the government sometimes puts these roadblocks in the way of claimants."