Crime & Safety
Coast Guard Helicopter Crew Rescues Man From Overturned Boat
Coast Guard Sector St. Pete and a rescue swimmer from Air Station Clearwater helped save two lives on 2 different days from the same boat.
ST. PETERSBURG, FL —The Coast Guard rescued a man, Thursday, after his boat overturned 18 miles west of St. Petersburg, a Coast Guard news release said.
Coast Guard Seventh District watchstanders received an emergency position indicating radio beacon alert at 8:56 a.m., from a boat homeported in Fort Myers.
An Air Station Clearwater MH-60 Jayhawk helicopter crew was directed to launch, and they located an overturned boat. A helicopter rescue swimmer was deployed, and rescued 48-year-old Robert Heart as he clung to a cooler near the boat.
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The Coast Guard said weather on scene was 3-4-foot seas and 15 mph winds.
Authorities said the helicopter crew took Heart to Tampa General Hospital for further evaluation.
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The Coast Guard Cutter Diamondback crew, stationed in St. Petersburg, first made contact with Heart, Wednesday, for another medical rescue of a 15-year-old boy from Heart's boat after he reportedly turned ill, officials said.
The boy alongside his father were taken to Coast Guard Sector St. Petersburg.
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