FAIRPORT, Ohio – U.S. Coast Guard Station Fairport rescued an 84-year-old man after he drove his lawnmower accidentally off the edge of Rutherford’s Landing into the Grand River here Monday at approximately 3 p.m.
“He was a little shaken up,” said Boatswain’s Mate 2nd Class Adam Lutz. “Apparently, his foot slipped off the clutch when he was cutting the grass.”
Boatswain’s Mate 3rd Class Richard Cheney and Boatswain’s Mate 2nd Class Mark Torres disembarked their 25-foot small response boat (RB-S) to pull the man up on to the pier.
The man was able to stand against the pier in three to four-feet of water, but he was not able to remove himself.
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The good samaritan vessel Megabite notified the Coast Guard via marine band radio on channel 16 of an elderly man in the Grand River standing in the water beside a partially submerged lawnmower at approximately 2:45 p.m.
Mariners are encouraged to invest in a VHF-FM radio as their primary means of distress alerting on the water. Communication via VHF-FM radio provides superior alerting capabilities over cellular phones.
When a Mayday is sent out via VHF-FM radio it is a broadcast, not just one party is receiving the distress call; any nearby boaters can hear the distress call and offer immediate assistance.
