TAMPA, Fla., January 17,
2012 -- With over 600 tow boats spread across North America, the law of averages
dictates that, eventually, BoatUS towing captains will be thrust into the middle
of life-threatening emergencies. BoatUS
Towing Services recently honored five of its TowBoatUS captains for their
heroic actions with its annual BoatUS "Woody Pollack Lifesaving Awards" at a
ceremony that capped off the group's annual conference held in Tampa FL. The
award is named after the well-respected towboat captain in the fleet who died at
an early age.
"Sometimes the routine of
normal day is interrupted by a life-threatening mayday call or an incident that
unfolds in front of them, and our captains step in without hesitation," said
BoatUS Vice President of Towing Services Jerry Cardarelli. "They are not in the
rescue business, but their actions save others. We are very proud of
them."
US Coast Guard Chief of
Search and Rescue, Captain David McBride, who BoatUS also honored at the
ceremony for his years of selfless and dedicated service to the nation's
boaters, presented the awards on behalf of BoatUS. Here are the details on the
incidents:
One late, blustery summer
night last year in July, Captain Kevin Freestone of TowBoatUS Big Pine Key, FL,
responded to a mayday call from a 22-foot vessel with six persons aboard. After
communications with the stricken boat fell ominously silent, Freestone
desperately searched and found the swamped vessel, in which six passengers,
standing in the semi-submersed boat, were precariously trying to balance to keep
from overturning. Freestone took all aboard and safely returned them to shore
and salvaged the vessel.
When a late afternoon
thunderstorm rolled in sheets of rain, 30 knots of wind, lighting and thunder,
Captain Lee Eckler of TowBoatUS Tarpon Springs, FL was stunned at what he saw in
the distance through the tempest: three heads bobbing in the water and an
overturned kayak. Eckler immediately took aboard three girls, age 12 to 16, who
only had one life jacket amongst them, and then safely deposited them and the
kayak ashore at their nearby home. It was likely the luckiest break in their
young lives.
One Friday last April,
husband and wife Captains Rodney and Mattie Suggs of TowBoatUS Clear Lake, TX,
raced to the scene of a disabled sailboat that had reported several persons in
the water, but who were unable to swim back to the vessel as a swift current
dragged them farther away. After finding one person and safely bringing them
aboard, the Suggs' were shocked to learn that six others were still missing.
Searching, the captains soon found the remaining group - all of whom were
severely exhausted, and one who had ingested a large amount of seawater. His
friends said the young man would have soon drowned if it had not been for the
Sugg's fortunate actions.
On a Saturday afternoon
Captain Mike Dunn of TowBoatUS Homosassa, FL, along with the local sheriff,
arrived to a chaotic scene in which a 37-foot powerboat had violently
overturned, ejecting its nine passengers into the water. While all had injuries,
one 18-year-old was blue, not breathing, and had an exposed open wound to the
head. After loading the young man aboard with the help of a Good Samaritan nurse
and the boy's mother, Dunn gunned the engines racing for shore while CPR was
performed. At high speed, he then dodged dozens of boats along a narrow,
constricted waterway, all the while making securite calls on the VHF radio and
arranging to rendezvous with EMTs. The teen was life-flighted to the local
hospital - and survived.
