Florida officials who responded to a report of a out-of-control speedboat spinning in circles conducted a daring rescue to save the craft’s unconscious driver, officials said Tuesday.
The incident took place on Lake Dias, a 740-acre body of water in Volusia County, north of Orlando. The area is popular with boaters and picnickers, according to a local recreation site.
Charlie McCrary, a member of Volusia County’s citizens on patrol program, which allows residents to volunteer with the sheriff’s office, was conducting his regular patrol of the lake when he saw a speedboat “spinning around in the middle,” according to a video released by the department on social media.
“I got out of my unit, I walked up to the dock, I could not see nobody in the boat whatsoever,” McCrary said. He radioed the sheriff’s office for help.
Sheriff’s deputies from the Marine Unit and members of Volusia County Fire Rescue responded to the scene. They determined that the driver of the speedboat was unresponsive, and needed to be rescued.
Senior deputy Matt Seltzer said rescuers first tried to use the larger Marine Unit boat to push the speedboat and stop it, but found themselves getting too close to shore. Then, the unit tried to use the boat’s wake to push the smaller boat closer to the shoreline so that it could be disabled without causing damage to the larger boat.
Neither option worked — so the responding officers tried a riskier strategy. The sheriff’s boat was brought as close as possible to the moving speedboat, and VCFR Acting Division Chief and Technical Rescue Deputy Team Leader John Kyp was able to leap onto the smaller craft.
In the video, Kyp can be seen leaping into the smaller boat and quickly ducking under some growth at the edge of the water, then stopping the boat before it can collide with tree branches. He conducted a wellness check on the unresponsive man.
The man, who has not been identified, was transferred from his speedboat to the Marine Unit craft, and brought to shore, where EMS services were waiting. The man was taken to an area hospital for treatment and is “expected to make a full recovery,” the sheriff’s office said.
