A Florida man was rescued Thursday after he was found clinging to a cooler approximately 30 miles off the coast of Longboat Key.
The harrowing rescue was captured on camera and released by the U.S. Coast Guard.
The man, who has only been identified as the captain of a fishing vessel, initially contacted the Coast Guard Sector St. Petersburg watchstanders on Monday letting them know that he and a crew member were on a disabled boat about 20 miles off the coast of John’s Pass.
A rescue boat and helicopter arrived on scene and brought them to safety, and according to a press release from the U.S. Coast Guard, “The vessel was left adrift and salvage arrangements were to be made.”
However, on Wednesday, hours before Hurricane Milton was scheduled to make landfall, the owner of the boat alerted the watchstanders that the captain returned to the boat around 3 a.m. to make repairs. The watchstanders were able to get in radio contact with the captain and learned the boat became disabled on its way back to port.
Since the weather was quickly deteriorating, the Coast Guard was unable to reach the man, and by 6:45 p.m. they lost all communications.
The following day a Coast Guard Air Station Miami helicopter crew located him approximately 30 miles off the coast of Florida, wearing a life jacket and clinging to a cooler.
“This man survived in a nightmare scenario for even the most experienced mariner,” said Lt. Cmdr. Dana Grady, Sector St. Petersburg’s command center chief. “To understand the severity of the hurricane conditions, we estimate he experienced approximately 75-90 mph winds, 20-25 foot seas, for an extended period of time to include overnight. He survived because of a life jacket, his emergency position indicating locator beacon, and a cooler.”
After he was rescued, he was taken to Tampa General Hospital for treatment.
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