An unconscious Camano Island man was pulled from the frigid waters of the Possession Sound Wednesday afternoon, but it was unclear whether the man survived.
The man and a friend from Everett were left stranded about 300 yards offshore for nearly two hours when their boat broke down around 2 p.m., said Jan Smith, spokeswoman for the Island County Sheriff’s Office. The man tried to swim for help, aiming for the island’s southern shore.
His friend, an Everett resident, watched the man swim away as he tried to fix the boat. At about 2:55, he lost sight of the man, so he called 911 on his cell phone, Smith said.
A Whidbey Island Naval Air Station helicopter crew found the man floating in the water and flew him to Camano Island State Park, where a Camano Island Fire and Rescue Unit started CPR.
The Navy – using a new Knighthawk rescue helicopter – then flew the man to Providence Everett Medical Center’s Colby Campus.
The man was fully clothed when he jumped into the water, and wasn’t wearing a life jacket, Smith said.
Hospital officials could not be reached about the man’s condition.
“Once again, there’s the importance of being able to gauge your physical ability to withstand distance swimming in very cold water,” Smith said.
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