Teenage boy nearly loses arm in ATV accident at Busco Beach

First responders airlifted the 16-year-old boy to the Vidant Medical Center in Greenville for further care.

Upon arriving to the scene after 2 p.m. Sunday, first responders decided to call a helicopter due to the extent of the injuries to the boy’s arm.

“When we got there, he was in the campsite,” said Mar-Mac Fire Department Chief Tommy Baker said. “Bystanders indicated it happened back in the woods somewhere. They had brought him to the campsite, and they had applied a tourniquet.”

Doctors were successfully able to reattach the boy's arm at the hospital, Baker said.

Calls to Busco Beach owner Amber Pierce went unanswered. Workers at the business also declined to comment.

Baker said the park can’t do much more to prevent these kinds of catastrophic injuries.

"I don’t think they were doing anything unsafe or anything like that,” Baker said. “They’re just ATVs, and when you ride those, any type of ATV, even if you’re being safe or otherwise, you can get injured."

Baker said the boy was wearing a helmet.

“They do require helmets at that location,” Baker said. “So, that’s all they can do, but when you’ve got 1,800 acres, it’s hard to police if everybody has a helmet on.”

Busco Beach posts signs saying ATV riders are required to wear U.S. Department of Transportation-approved helmets. Other signs warn visitors that they ride and swim at their own risk.

The park also hires off-duty sheriff's deputies on weekends and requires all guests 18 and older to sign liability waivers.

Baker said the park is the second largest on the east coast of the U.S.

Busco Beach and ATV Park recorded fatal accidents in April and May of 2021.

Wayne County spokesman: 'Nothing we can do' regarding deaths at Busco Beach