A fisherman almost lost his hand and suffered a horrifying injury after being hit by a boater.
Alexey Barkhatov was struck by a passing boat and its propeller left a gaping wound in his hand which needed hospital treatment.
He had gone diving with a friend when the horror accident happened while he was fishing with a spear at Sydney Harbour, Australia.
Alexey now wants the regulations on water routes to be changed after his brush with death which left him badly injured.
He told Yahoo Australia : "50cm to the left and this boat could have killed me and my diving buddy,"
"I was with my diving buddy, really shallow with two floats, when he appeared out of nowhere, speeding.
"I tried to defend my hand with the gun and was able to dive quickly but not as deep as I hoped."
He regularly dives where the the accident happened and says they have two very visible floats which can be seen from some distance
Mr Barkhatov and his friend had been diving near Middle Head for a few hours when they spotted some fish and were preparing to target them when he suddenly heard a noise.
There were boats nearby and after hearing the noise of an engine he dived quickly and defended himself with his spear gun.
He believes this saved his life when the boat hit him and its propeller caught the edge of his hand leaving badly wounded.
He was covered with blood after arriving above the water and the boat drive helped him on board.
They used a dog's lead to stem the blood while his diving partner called the maritime police and took them to shore where paramedics were waiting to take him to hospital.
Mr Barkhatov's endured three hours of surgery but doctors were luckily able to save his hand.
"I'm very lucky," he said. "That's why now I'm trying to find a way how to use my story to prevent such accidents in the future."
The New South Wales government website says most water routes do not have have a limit for speed..
"It says: "All vessels must travel at a safe speed at all times
"A safe speed gives you enough time to stop, or turn your vessel to avoid any sudden danger, such as a collision, injury to people, or damage to things."
Mr Barkhatov called for the enforcement of speed limits and increased curbs for boats near swimmers and divers.
He says buoys could show the boats where swimmers or other water users could be which he insists "could save lives."
