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LITTLETON, Colorado (KCNC) — So far this summer, Colorado crews have responded to 12 water emergencies at Chatfield Reservoir.
On July 11, Julian Johnson set off on a boat with friends. What he describes as a freak accident changed his life forever.
“It was actually the end of our day,” Johnson said. “I was trying to get a picture, kind of the perfect shot.”
Johnson, 36, said he was standing on the boat taking a photo when another boat crossed their path. The wake jolted them, throwing Johnson overboard.
“I felt it take my momentum,” he said. “I figured I was going to splash into the water and swim around. They’re going to circle around and come get me like they normally do.”
The boat’s propeller got him first.
“As soon as I hit the water, I felt something hit my leg, and I was like, ‘Man, I know that thing just probably cut me pretty good.’ I thought that’s all it was,” he said.
He woke up in the hospital with his left leg amputated below the knee.
On scene, help arrived within minutes.
Doctors told him he likely would’ve died had his friend Thomas Courtney not been there. Courtney, an Army veteran who served with the 1st Ranger Battalion, immediately recognized the severity of his injury.
“The blood was like something you see in Shark Week. I saw just, clean cut, gone,” Courtney said. “That’s when my internal timer started. It was, ‘Okay, 60 seconds to stop the bleeding.'”
Without a tourniquet on board, Courtney improvised with a rope before using his knee to apply pressure until they reached the dock, where paramedics took over.
“If you’re seeing this, buy a tourniquet for your boat,” he said. “Just something to have easy in the dashboard. They’re about $30 online.”
Johnson’s life is outdoors. He works in construction and loves to golf and hike. He is now focused on learning to live with an amputation. It’s the everyday moments, even taking his dog outside, that remind him of the journey ahead.
“The little things have probably been the hardest,” he said. “You roll out of bed to go to the bathroom, and I go to step and almost fall over and have to catch myself.”
Johnson refuses to let the accident define him. He’s already researching advanced prosthetics and hopes to return to the active lifestyle he loves.
“I guess you could say I’m looking forward to this next chapter and the challenges that come with it,” he said. “I look forward to learning how to walk again.”
Johnson also hopes others remember that tragedies can happen even when people are doing everything right.
“In the blink of an eye things can happen,” he said. “Always be aware and conscious of what’s going on.”
As he continues his recovery, Johnson says the support from friends, family and even strangers have helped him through some of his darkest moments. An online fundraiser has raised more the $50,000 to support him with medical expenses and lost income.
“I try not to spend too much time thinking about what if or how it should have gone,” he said. “I just try to focus on now.”
For now, every step takes support. Some from his crutches and a lot from his friends, who’ll never leave his side.
“We’ll be there with him every step of the way,” laughed Courtney. “No pun intended.”
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