Skyway Bridge Jumper Rescued After 8 Hours In Water: U.S. Coast Guard

ST. PETERSBURG, FL — A man who jumped from the Sunshine Skyway Bridge early Saturday morning was rescued off Egmont Key after eight hours in the water, the U.S. Coast Guard said.

The 22-year-old jumped from the south side of the bridge, not the center span, a spokesperson for the Coast Guard station in St. Petersburg told Patch.

The station received a call that he was in the water near the bridge around midnight, according to a Facebook post.

Coast Guard and St. Pete Fire Rescue crews searched the area of the bridge for hours before spotting him near Egmont Key around 4:30 a.m., the station said.

The victim had been dragged by a barge and was in the water for nearly eight hours by the time he was rescued.

He “was alert and conscious” when he was pulled from the water and brought back to the Coast Guard station, where EMS picked him up to bring him to a local hospital, the station said.

“Incredible job by the crew. Their diligent efforts and expertise made for an incredible ending,” the Coast Guard wrote on Facebook.

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