A U.S. Coast Guard helicopter crew on Thursday rescued a man spotted floating on a cooler in the sea, dozens of miles off Florida’s Gulf Coast after Hurricane Milton struck.
The Coast Guard said an Air Station Miami helicopter crew rescued the captain of a fishing vessel called “Capt. Dave” 30 miles off Longboat Key.
He was transferred to Tampa General Hospital to undergo further treatment, officials said in an Oct. 10 statement.
The Coast Guard said the man survived because he was wearing a life jacket and had an emergency position locator beacon and a cooler.
“This man survived in a nightmare scenario for even the most experienced mariner,” Dana Grady, the St. Petersburg command center chief of the U.S. Coast Guard, said….