CLEARWATER, Fla. – The Coast Guard rescued an injured 64-year-old woman and her 49-year-old friend from their disabled 65-foot MacGregor sailboat approximately 198 miles West of St. Petersburg, Fla., Wednesday.
Watchstanders from Coast Guard Sector Mobile, Ala., received a call from a man at approximately 10 a.m., Central Time, stating that he had received a call from his three friends on the sailboat Sea Ya II that their vessel had lost rudder capabilities and that there was an injured person on board.
Fatma Romero, 64, had sustained a head injury onboard and was in need of medical assistance.
A Coast Guard Air Station Clearwater MH-60 Jayhawk helicopter crew immediately launched and safely hoisted Fatma and another man.
They were taken to Coast Guard Air Station Clearwater where they were met by local EMS.
“This rescue was very rewarding for me,” said Petty Officer 3rd Class Jacob Warner, an aviation survival technician at Coast Guard Air Station Clearwater. “All those months of training and hard work paid off. They (Fatma and the other man) were very appreciative and once I pulled her into the helicopter she gave me a big hug.”
This was Warner’s first rescue as a Coast Guard rescue swimmer. He is from Reidsville, N.C.
