Quick-thinking witnesses may have helped save a sailor in the midst of a medical emergency off Chesapeake Beach Inlet this weekend.
The U.S. Coast Guard says two good Samaritans reported that a 26-foot sailboat with two people on board “appeared to be floundering” just outside the inlet Sunday evening.
One of the people on board called Coast Guard Station Oxford saying that her friend, a 77-year-old diabetic man, was weak, disoriented, and needed help quickly. The sailboat was anchored at the time.
USCG Station Oxford sent a 29-foot Response Boat to help the man. The crew put the sailboat in a side tow and brought them to a marina in Chesapeake Beach, where he could be transferred to a waiting EMS crew.
The Coast Guard credits the quick save to those people who saw that things didn’t seem right on the water:
“Two concerned citizens took action and called the Coast Guard when they saw the sailboat and thought something might be wrong,” said William D. Carter, operations unit controller for the case. “We encourage all mariners and coastal residents to keep an eye out for anything unusual on the water. If you see something, say something.”
-Meg Walburn Viviano
