Bent shift shaft on 2013 mercury outboard

Vla

Recruit
Joined
Jun 30, 2018
Messages
1
my son in law took my boat out hit a sandbar and sucked up a lot of sand in the motor went in Guardian mode brought it home flushed it out thermostat was packed with sand replaced it flushed it out went to put lowercase back into place bass pro shop said to leave it in gear easier to put it back on and he bent the gear shift shaft... Is this expensive to replace something he can do? Or just better to take it into a shop?
Thanks for any help!
 
Top