Stavros Floros, a 22-year-old contestant on the reality television show Survivor, has described in an interview with the Miami Herald the moment a speedboat ran over him and his teammate Manos in the water off Santo Domingo, an accident that cost him his left leg.
Floros said the collision happened within a matter of seconds, and he accused the show's production of failing to have staff on site to protect the contestants during the incident.
How the collision happened
Floros said he and Manos were in the water with a speargun and their equipment when a boat came in very close to the beach. He said no one from the production was there to look out for their safety, and that the boat was travelling very fast, with the operators paying no attention to speed limits or anything else. He said he heard Manos shout his name, warning him about the boat, and that when he turned his head it was already one to two metres away. By then, he said, there was nothing he could do. The boat struck him, and then the propeller cut into him.
Propeller injuries
Floros, who said he remained conscious throughout, described the first impact as landing on his back and head, pushing him through the water before he went under. He said the propeller then cut his left leg above the knee and his right leg near the ankle. He said he stayed awake the entire time, and that after coming out of the water he checked himself over and initially thought he was fine, until he looked down at his leg. He said he grabbed it and saw that it had been completely severed, and that he could see inside it. He said Manos then came over shouting for the boat to stop, and that it was fortunate there were tourists aboard, because the boat did stop, though he said he was not sure it would have otherwise.
Delayed hospital transfer and the lost leg
Floros said medical care was badly delayed, with the journey to hospital facilities taking more than an hour. Asked directly by the interviewer whether his left leg had already been lost by that point, Floros confirmed that it had, and said he never saw it again. It stayed in the sea, he said.
Survivor is an international reality television format in which contestants are stranded in a remote location, typically a tropical setting, and compete in physical and strategic challenges to avoid elimination, with a cash prize for the eventual winner. Various national versions of the show, including a Greek edition, have filmed segments in the Caribbean and Central America.
An unwanted route to Miami
Reflecting on why he had joined Survivor in the first place, Floros pointed to what he called the irony of how he ended up reaching his intended destination. He said he had always wanted to go to Miami, and that this was part of why he joined the show, since it offered a prize trip there for the winner. He said he had wanted to get into the game, win that prize and travel to Miami, but that he and Manos ended up getting there a different way, one that was not nearly as good.
Weeks of surgery and phantom pain
Floros described an extended hospital stay involving repeated surgical procedures and severe physical pain during his recovery. He called them the worst days of his life, saying the pain was unlike anything else, different every day. He said the doctors treating him were good and took care of him, but that the pain itself was something else entirely, describing both phantom limb pain and real pain as he went through surgery after surgery.
'I was sure I would die, 100 percent'
Floros said that in the immediate aftermath of the accident he believed, in a state of shock, that he was not going to survive. He said that as the boat pulled away, he felt his life slipping away little by little, and that he told Manos he was certain he would die and asked him to find a phone so he could speak his last words to his mother.
