INXS guitarist Tim Farriss is suing a Sydney-based rental boat operator after severing his finger onboard in 2015.
The musician caught the ring finger of his left hand in an electric anchor while sailing near to his home in Sydney. He underwent two surgical procedures attempting to reattach it, but was left with permanent damage.
Describing his “horrific” situation at the time, Farriss said: “I don’t know if I will be able to play properly again.”
Now, the guitarist is taking legal action against the boat’s operators John William Axford and Jill Mary Axford, who he claims are responsible for the career-ending injury.
“I will NEVER forget what I saw next as long as I live,” said the 61-year-old in his statement for the NSW supreme court civil case.
“My hand was covered in rust, blood and mud, but I could see one of my fingers had been severed and the others were disfigured, badly lacerated and bleeding.”
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Farriss’ legal team argue that there was a foreseeable risk of injury to an individual operating the Omega Clipper 34 boat’s anchoring equipment. It’s also claimed that the defendants failed to instruct the artist on how to use the equipment and had not maintained a fully functioning anchor.
The Axfords and the Church Point Charter boat hire company insist that Farriss was offered sufficient instructions, but that he had failed to take appropriate care while aboard.
“If [Farriss] suffered injury, loss or damage [which is not admitted], the defendants say such loss and damage was caused or contributed to by the first plaintiff’s own fault and negligence,” the defence states.
The musician states that the anchor’s chain was “prone to ‘kinking’” while he was sailing at Akuna Bay with his wife Beth. After an attempt to fix the mechanism, he claims that the chain then spun out of control, causing the injury.
In other INXS news, a previously unreleased version of ‘Please (You Got That)’ was recently released from the upcoming soundtrack to new Michael Hutchence documentary, Mystify.