Coast Guard Rescues 53-Year-Old 2.5 Miles Off Seal Beach After 12 Hours Adrift
Updated
Updated · Long Beach Press Telegram · Aug 18
Coast Guard Rescues 53-Year-Old 2.5 Miles Off Seal Beach After 12 Hours Adrift
3 articles · Updated · Long Beach Press Telegram · Aug 18
Summary
A Coast Guard helicopter found Paul Anthony Carbullido Jr. just after 10:45 a.m. Monday, floating 2.5 miles off the Seal Beach pier more than 12 hours after he disappeared.
Crew members spotted his neon-green life vest and saw him move his legs as they approached, then lowered a rescuer to pull him from the water; he was conscious and hospitalized with hypothermia.
The 53-year-old had fallen from a rented personal watercraft Sunday night near the Queens Gate Entrance Channel off Long Beach, according to authorities.
A woman who entered the water trying to help him could not restart the craft, swam about an hour to the break wall and was rescued earlier by lifeguards and a fireboat.
Firefighters, police and the Coast Guard searched overnight with boats, helicopters and cameras, with the Coast Guard taking the lead shortly before daybreak.