Man rescued from Detroit River after crashing Jet Ski

Image 1 of 3

A Jet Ski rider was rescued on the Detroit River after crashing into the break wall just outside the Renaissance Center Thursday night.

Phone video shows the aftermath of the Jet Ski crash on the Detroit River. It happened near the Ren Cen just before 7 p.m. Thursday.

"He was going at least like 40 on there for sure," said Rayvon Rollins. "He flew straight past me, I'm like whoa."

Rollins says he saw the man standing up on his Jet Ski before he lost control of it and slammed it into the breakwall.

"I'm standing like right here (and) his body just flew that way and his Jet Ski just flew straight into the thing," Rollins said.

"We heard a big boom. He hit the wall right here," said another witness.

FOX 2: "Did it seem like he was okay?"

"He seemed like he was very scared," Rollins said. "But I asked him 'Bro, are you straight?' and he was like, 'Yeah.'"

His Jet Ski however was not. As seen in phone video, it was clearly damaged in the crash.

"He started waving his hand to the boatriders that were going by, you know trying to get their attention," said a witness. "And a lot of them  were waving and he was like I'm not waving. He was like come back."

Eventually one boat did and those aboard helped the man to safety, getting him and his now wrecked ride to the Canadian shore line.

Lt. Ben Chamberlain from the U.S. Coast Guard says the accident should serve as a lesson for everyone on the river.

"A couple of things that we want to stress is that you're operating safely," he said. "And that means knowing the capabilities and the limitations of whatever you're operating. So if you're on a Jet Ski, know what the top speeds are, know what you can handle and make sure that you're operating in a capacity where you still have control over your vessel."

The rider was from Canada and is back there tonight and not injured.