A Key West sportfishing captain celebrated his 54th birthday with a half-day charter that ended with an unplanned water rescue near the entrance to Garrison Bight on Aug. 19.
Captain Pete Collins was bringing his guests back to Charter Boat Row aboard the Conchenstein boat. He had just come through the cut leading into Garrison Bight, passing city commissioner Mark Rossi’s landmark property to his left.
“That’s when we saw a small dinghy doing fast donuts, just circling tightly underneath the powerlines with no one at the helm,” Collins said. “Then we spotted an elderly man — Maurice — unconscious in the 8-foot-long dinghy with a 9-horsepower motor that Maurice had just received as a gift.”
Collins pulled his charter as close as he dared while his mate, Ross Baker, radioed the Coast Guard.
“While we were watching, the dinghy hit an angled leg of the powerline supports and flipped over with Maurice in the dinghy,” said Collins, who had been certified as a waterpark lifeguard more than 20 years prior, when deep-water rescues were part of the training. “I asked my mate to take the wheel and told him I was going in the water. I dove in and reached his dinghy in less than 15 seconds. I saw his arms sticking out from under the dinghy, moving. I quickly pulled him out from under the boat, and got his head above water. I moved him to the back of the dinghy and grabbed onto the lower unit with one arm. While holding on to the outboard, I was able to keep his head above water by wrapping my legs around his abdomen; with my free arm, I was able to hug him and cradle his head in my free hand.
‘While holding onto the outboard with one arm, and with my legs wrapped around his abdomen, primarily to hold him up, I started compressions which began to evacuate water from his lungs. This was very successful. The first compression expelled pure saltwater. Thereafter a small amount of water after each compression with a single cough. This went on for about 3 or 4 minutes (or less) in the water until the Coast Guard showed up.
“When I got to shore, the Coasties said that I saved his life and the paramedics were stabilizing his breathing,” said Collins, who did not know Maurice’s last name, but knows he had worked as a fishing mate for years.
“Maurice was airlifted to Jackson hospital in Miami in critical condition, and according to his brother, was in a coma as of Wednesday morning. Maurice does have a history of seizures, which may have contributed to him being knocked out by the tiller of his dinghy. His brother is with him in Miami and we’re awaiting updates.”
