A mariner sailing in the path of Hurricane Helene was rescued in dramatic fashion when his boat started sinking off southwest Florida, according to the U.S. Coast Guard Station in Clearwater.
The distress call was received around 11 a.m. on Thursday, Sept. 26, with a 64-year-old man reporting his 36-foot sailboat was disabled and “started taking on water approximately 25 miles off Sanibel Island.”
Helene’s winds were intensifying at the time, from a Category 2 storm to a Category 3 storm, and U.S. Coast Guard air units took a “calculated risk” the mission could be completed without additional loss of life, officials said.
Video shared on social media shows the boat was still afloat when an MH-60 helicopter crew arrived around 2:45 p.m. and a guardsman was lowered by cable to the water.
The dog, wearing a life preserver, was the first to be pushed off the teetering boat, followed by its master. The two then swam to a basket and were hoisted into a helicopter.
Hurricane Helene’s winds were near 120 mph at the time, making it an extremely dangerous storm, according to the National Hurricane Center.