Long Island residents and visitors have had a tough break this summer, dealing with everything from shark attacks to a revived serial killer cold case. On July 31, one man was trying to enjoy an early morning swim when he suddenly found himself being dragged out to sea.
Dan Ho, a 63-year-old beachgoer from Copiague, NY, was in the water at Cedar Beach in Babylon around 5 a.m. yesterday morning. What was supposed to be a relaxing dip turned into a life-or-death situation after strong currents carried him out more than two miles off the coast, according to police.
Ho kept himself afloat and treaded water for five hours without any flotation devices. He realized quickly he needed to call for help and improvised with what he had around him. He found a broken fishing rod floating in the water and tied his shirt to it to create a makeshift flag to try to wave down help.
Finally, by 10:30 a.m., his soaked flag caught the attention of two good Samaritans on a motorboat. They first mistook him for a lobster buoy and hoisted him aboard. One of the men, Jim Hohorst, is a retired marine engineer who worked for the New York City Fire Department. Hohorst alerted emergency responders to the situation through VHF radio and they were soon met on the water by a Suffolk County Police Department boat.
Once Ho was on the Suffolk County PD boat, the responding officers immediately treated him for hypothermia. The man was conscious and alert but unable to stand up due to exhaustion from hours of treading water in open ocean.
"He was in shock and pretty incoherent at the time," Hohorst told Newsday of the movie-like rescue. "We figured he had maybe an hour left. He was very hypothermic and said he had been drinking a lot of salt water." Ho, for his part, admitted to his saviors "I thought I was done."
Ho was treated by Coast Guard medics on Fire Island before being taken to the hospital in West Islip. There's no word on whether he's returned to the water yet, but it's likely he's counting his blessings as he recovers from the traumatic experience.
from Men's Journal https://ift.tt/NvsGr9X
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