Injured man waits for assistance from good Samaritans and Coast Guard after running aground along the Intracoastal Waterway near Matagorda, Texas, Aug. 23, 2015.
(Photo courtesy from tugboat Albert crew)
August 24th, 2015
HOUSTON, TEXAS
A Coast Guard helicopter crew medevaced an injured man from his boat Monday morning, after running aground and spending the night on the Intracoastal Waterway.
The crew of a passing tug, the Albert, notified watchstanders at Coast Guard Sector Houston-Galveston at about 8:40 a.m., to report they located a person waving his hands from a boat that appeared to be stuck in the marsh along the waterway.
The tug crew launched their small boat and found out the man had been there since 8 p.m. Sunday. His right knee and left leg were swollen and he was unable to stand.
Two tug crewmen and another man stood by with the injured man and helped when Coast Guard Air Station Houston’s MH-65 Dolphin helicopter crew arrived to hoist him.
“This guy was very fortunate that someone came by and saw him,” said Lt. Daniel Crowley, the pilot of the helicopter. “That’s why it’s so important for you to let boaters know where you’re going to be and even more important to carry devices that are able to communicate distress in case something happens. Luckily, good Samaritans found him and called us.”
The helicopter crew hoisted and transported the man to Brazosport Regional Health System hospital in Lake Jackson.
A Matagorda County airboat crew recovered the man’s grounded vessel.