There’s a big difference between seeing someone swimming far from shore and realizing they might not want to come back. For deputies in Martin County, Florida, figuring out which situation they were dealing with meant there wasn’t much time to waste.
According to the Martin County Sheriff’s Office, deputies were called to assist a man who was extremely distressed and had said he planned to swim into the ocean “in hopes of not returning.” Marine deputies, the department’s Aviation Unit, and a Martin County lifeguard were all involved in trying to locate him.
By the time first responders found the man, the Sheriff’s Office says he was significantly offshore. Deputies also quickly realized that he remained in serious emotional distress, turning what might otherwise look like an ocean rescue into something considerably more complicated…