By Jane Harper
The Virginian-Pilot
VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. — Robert Helfant was preparing to start up his boat on one of the canals at Indian Cove Resort Sunday afternoon when he turned and saw 17-year-old Sean Amerman floating behind him on his personal watercraft.
The Kellam High School student had just purchased the 1997 Sea-Doo a couple of weeks before with money he earned working part time at the popular family campground in Sandbridge, where his family has been going since he was a toddler. Amerman already had ridden it several times since he got it and was headed out for another spin.
“He went to start it, and when he did, it exploded and threw him about 30 feet into the air,” said Helfant, a retired Virginia Beach firefighter who said he has known the teen his entire life. “Then there was a huge fireball probably twice that height. My first thought was, ‘He’s dead.’?”
The boom could be heard throughout the park, campers said.
“It sounded like a bomb,” said Zoe Krebs, who was nearby. Parents could be seen running over to scoop up their children from the pool, she said.
When Helfant looked down in the water, he saw Amerman back-paddling as fast as he could to get away from the burning watercraft. Helfant immediately jumped in to help.
“I held on to him and held him like a baby,” he said. Several other campers also jumped in to help.
Once the teen was out of the water, Helfant said he looked him over for burns or other injuries.
“There wasn’t a mark on him,” he said. “The only thing he complained about was that his legs were hurting.”
Sean Amerman’s father, Kenny, a paramedic, said he heard the explosion and pulled up in his golf cart as the rescue was underway.
“There were people at the swimming pool who told us they saw him flying up in the air,” Kenny Amerman said. “So, yeah, I would say he was lucky.”
The teen was taken by ambulance to Sentara Virginia Beach General Hospital and was released about four hours later.
On Monday afternoon, he still complained about pain in his legs below the knee, but otherwise felt fine, his father said. “He said he was tired and just wanted to chill out.”
Sean Amerman had ridden personal watercraft for a couple of years before purchasing the old-model Sea-Doo, his father said. They had it checked out by a friend with mechanical experience and were told it looked good.
The explosion split the watercraft into two pieces, said Art Kohn, a Virginia Beach Fire Department spokesman. Investigators collected the pieces and will try to determine the cause, Kohn said.
The last reported personal watercraft fire or explosion in Virginia Beach was in July 2014, he said. Virginia Natural Gas President Jodi Gidley, 49, was seriously injured when the watercraft she was riding near the Lynnhaven River caught fire. She died two weeks later.
While reports of such fires or explosions are rare, the fire department strongly encourages people who purchase used watercraft from individuals to have them checked out by a current mechanic to make sure they are safe to operate, Kohn said.
Kenny Amerman said he and his family were grateful that so many friends were nearby and acted so quickly. The family posted a sign on the campground’s general store thanking all who prayed for Sean and helped get him to safety.
“He saw a lot of faces he knew when he was in the water, and I think that helped a lot,” his father said. “He even knew the medic in the ambulance.”
Even though the teen was not seriously hurt or shaken by the accident, he doesn’t plan to ride personal watercraft anytime soon, his father said.
“He says he’s going to get an RC (radio-controlled) boat. They’re much safer.”
Copyright 2016 The Virginian-Pilot