Video: U.S. Coast Guard Aircrew Rescues Man From Wave-Washed Rockface

 

In a dramatic rescue captured on video, a U.S. Coast Guard aircrew retrieved a man from a wave-washed rock pinnacle off the coast of Manati, Puerto Rico earlier this week. 

On Monday, the 911 call center in Manati received a report that a person had gone over the cliff face and into the water near Playa Esperanza, a rocky shoreline 30 miles west of San Juan. The man managed to stay afloat and reach a rock formation, and he clung to the cliffside as powerful waves washed over him from below, threatening to knock him back into the water. 

The call center notified Coast Guard Sector San Juan of the urgent need for a helicopter evacuation, and the sector dispatched a Jayhawk rescue crew out of Air Station Borinquen. The aircrew quickly found the survivor and lowered away a rescue swimmer. Within seconds, despite the waves, the swimmer got a rescue sling around the survivor and hoisted him to safety. 

After the hoist, the aircrew flew the survivor to a local airport for transfer to an awaiting ambulance. He was taken to the Centro Medico Hospital in San Juan for evaluation.

"This rescue is a testament to the intentional and continuous training we conduct at Air Station Borinquen to intervene on someone’s worst day and bring them to safety," said Lt. Luke M. Dewhirst, the pilot and commander for the mission. "I am incredibly proud of the safe and efficient work by the crew of 6038, as well as the expert coordination by our operations watchstander and personnel at Sector San Juan."