SOUTH KINGSTOWN, Rhode Island - A 51-year-old man treaded water for nine hours in the Atlantic Ocean and a Valley native with the U.S. Coast Guard helped to rescue him.
The rescue took place Tuesday night in South Kingstown Rhode Island where a 23-foot yacht ran aground with no operator on board.
In a Skype interview with 21 News, 27-year-old Howland High School graduate and U.S. Coast Guardsman Chris DiGiovanni said, "It was just him on the boat and I guess something was about to fall over on the boat and he went to grab it and a wave hit the side of it and pushed him overboard."
DiGiovanni was among five different Coast Guard assets that searched for 51-year-old Joseph Gross from 7:30 p.m. Tuesday to the early hours of Wednesday morning.
"On our last keg, it was going on four in the morning, we were just coming down and we saw him on the right and he screamed 'help' and we put him on the boat and gave him blankets to warm him up because he was very cold," DiGiovanni said.
Gross had hypothermia and was disoriented. His rescuers couldn't believe he was treading water for approximately nine hours with no life jacket on.
"We had to carry him up the steps because he couldn't lift his legs. He was that exhausted," DiGiovanni said.
The 51-year-old told DiGiovanni what kept him going the whole time. "He had a son that was 15 and he said the entire time he was out there he just kept thinking about his son. How he still wanted to be with him and he just struggled. He said he was doing the best he could to stay alive."
Gross is now in stable condition at a Rhode Island Hospital.
All content © Copyright 2000 - 2013 Worldnow and WFMJ. All Rights Reserved. For more information on this site, please read our Privacy Policy and Terms
