MAN SURVIVES 24 HOURS IN OCEAN, COAST GUARD TAKES TO HOSPITAL

July 13, 2006

PORT CANAVERAL, Fla. – A man is recuperating at the hospital today after being in the ocean for 24 hours after he fell over the side of his boat.

Brian Wallschlaeger, 34, a resident of New Smyrna, Fla., was found at noon today approximately two-miles north of his 32-foot vessel after an extensive search by the Coast Guard, Navy and local search and rescue crews. The search began this morning after his beached boat was discovered by security personnel at 8 a.m. on Cape Canaveral Air Force Base with a dead black labrador on board and the engine still running.

After being spotted by the Navy, he was picked up by a Coast Guard HH-60 helicopter crew from Air Station Clearwater, Fla., and taken to Holmes Regional Medical Center.

Wallschllaeger reported to authorities that he was knocked over the side of his boat by an unexpected wave, and he wasn’t wearing his lifejacket.

The Coast Guard recommend thats boaters always wear their lifejacket when boating. Boating fatalities are on the rise in Florida, and 77 percent of those killed were not wearing lifejackets. Being able to swim doesn’t always help during a boating accident, over 60 percent of those who died boating in the Sun Shine State in 2005 reportedly knew how to swim. Rescue crews have seen about 20 percent more fatal boating accidents in 2006 than had occurred this time last year.

Last year was the deadliest year for boaters in the state of Florida in nearly a decade. Rescue crews from all local, state and federal response agencies are urging boaters to take the necessary precautions not to become another statistic.

MAN SURVIVES 24 HOURS IN OCEAN, COAST GUARD TAKES TO HOSPITAL

PORT CANAVERAL, Fla. – A man is recuperating at the hospital today after being in the ocean for 24 hours after he fell over the side of his boat.

After being spotted by the Navy, he was picked up by a Coast Guard HH-60 helicopter crew from Air Station Clearwater, Fla., and taken to Holmes Regional Medical Center.

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