Lost FL Paddleboarder Rescued From Ten Thousand Islands: Watch

COLLIER COUNTY, FL — A lost paddleboarder was rescued Saturday afternoon from the “remote Ten Thousand Islands,” the Collier County Sheriffs Office wrote in a Facebook post. (Watch a video of the rescue below.)

When the paddleboarder contacted CCSO Dispatch just before 2 p.m. to report that he was lost, the Marine Emergency Response Team was activated. A helicopter with the agency’s Aviation Bureau and boats with its Marine Unit and the Greater Naples Fire Rescue District all responded.

The aviation crew spotted the paddleboarder from the air and decided the water was too shallow and muddy for a boat rescue, the sheriff’s office said.

Two North Collier Fire Rescue District rescue specialists, who were part of the aviation crew, were lowered to the ground. They secured the paddleboarder and hoisted him to the helicopter.

The aviation crew transported him to Port of the Islands, bringing him to Collier County EMS for evaluation.

Watch a video of the rescue: