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(L to R) BoatUS CEO Kirk La; Meritorious Award recipient Capt. Mike Del Grande,
TowBoatUS Long Beach, Calif. (credit: BoatUS)
Boat-Towing Captains from FL, CT, CA
Honored for Lifesaving Acts
When
recreational boaters are in grave trouble, the captains of the on-water
recreational boat-towing service, TowBoatUS,
don’t hesitate to act. Six captains who acted as good Samaritans to save lives
in 2018 were recently honored by their peers at a ceremony held at the annual
BoatUS Towing Conference in Arlington, Virginia, on Jan. 17.
The
captains serve TowBoatUS towing locations in South Dade, Florida; Tarpon
Springs, Florida; Mystic, Connecticut; Long Beach, California; and Lake Havasu,
California. These are their actions:
Woody
Pollack Lifesaving Award
- Capt. Lee Hartman, TowBoatUS South Dade,
Florida: A man aboard a 40-foot motor vessel tied up to a
marina fuel dock had a heart attack and fell overboard into
alligator-infested waters – but no one saw it happen. Only a loud bang
followed by a splash gave an eerie feeling to Capt. Hartman who, in a
frantic yet systematic search, was able to locate and pull the man out
from under the motor vessel’s transom, where his body had been pinned
underwater against the boat’s propellers and rudder by an outgoing tide.
With assistance from bystanders, the man was removed from the water and
rushed to the hospital where he spent a week recovering.
Meritorious
Service Awards
- Capt. Jason Ness, TowBoatUS Tarpon
Springs, Florida: While attempting a backflip off a 65-foot-high
bridge, a teenager experienced a severe spinal injury and was nearly
lifeless in the water. With the help of another teen, Capt. Ness was able
to retrieve the boy and rush him to shore for hospitalization.
- Capt. Alex Alberg, TowBoatUS
Mystic,
Connecticut: A gust of wind and a jammed cleat
conspired to spill a family of three generations of sailors aboard a small
boat into the choppy waters of Fisher’s Island Sound. Capt. Alberg pulled
two children from the water who were then transported to shore by local
law enforcement.
- Capt. Mike Del Grande, TowBoatUS Long
Beach, California, and Jeff Perez: A story that
made national
headlines, an elderly mother and son in a pickup truck crashed through
a pedestrian guardrail into Long Beach Harbor. As the truck slid into
deeper water and its passenger cab was slowly submerging, the two were
rescued by Capt. Del Grande and Perez with assistance from another good
Samaritan
- Capt. Kevin McKinney, TowBoatUS Lake
Havasu,
California: A young teen and his father went for a
swim off their boat, but winds pushed the boat away preventing a safe
return. The teen, who was wearing a life jacket, struggled to keep his
exhausted father’s head above water until McKinney arrived in the nick of
time and safely retrieved both.
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