Major League Baseball

Report: Red Sox owner injured on yacht

Published Sep. 30, 2011 1:00 a.m. ET

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Boston Red Sox owner John W. Henry has been taken to the hospital with a neck injury after an accident on his luxury yacht in Boston late Friday, WBZ NewsRadio reported.

Henry was escorted from the vessel by paramedics wearing a neck brace, before being transferred on to a stretcher and loaded into a waiting ambulance, according to a WBZ reporter who witnessed the scene from the dock.

The 62-year-old billionaire, who also owns English Premier League soccer club Liverpool, appeared to be in pain and was holding his neck as he was walked across the gang plank back to shore.

An unnamed emergency worker told the Boston Herald that Henry injured his neck in a fall while aboard his 164-foot, $32 million yacht, the Iroquois, on Boston Harbor.

The ambulance arrived about 15 minutes before the boat pulled into its slip, witness Cliff Corrall told the Boston Herald. "There was a bunch of people waiting, a bunch of guys in suits," he said.

Shortly after Henry was taken to the hospital, Red Sox President Larry Lucchino told WBZ there had been a minor incident on the boat but he expected Henry to be OK.

The accident capped a rough day for the Red Sox, after the team officially cut ties with long-time manager Terry Francona in the wake of a catastrophic late-season collapse.

Henry's accident prevented him from making it to a scheduled Friday night media conference regarding Francona's departure.

Henry raised his global sports profile dramatically last year when he purchased Liverpool -- one of England's most historic soccer clubs -- for nearly $500 million and his collection of sports assets landed him on the Forbes 400 list of richest Americans for the first time this September, with a net worth of $1.1 billion.