A man was swept out to sea while swimming off Long Island Monday morning — but he treaded water for five hours and created a makeshift flag to attract his rescuers.
Dan Ho, 63, was in the water at Cedar Beach in Babylon around 5 a.m. when strong currents carried him two-and-a-half miles off the coast, according to the police.
The Copiague man miraculously kept himself afloat without any flotation devices and found a broken fishing rod floating in the water.By 10:30 a.m. his ingenuity proved fruitful. He was spotted by two men on a motorboat — retired FDNY marine engineer Jim Hohorst and pal Michael Ross — who pulled Ho out of the ocean and onto their vessel, a 2007 Albin, Suffolk PD said.
Hohorst then alerted emergency responders through VHF radio and the Suffolk County Police Department’s marine unit rushed to meet the civilian boat. Officers Bernadette Benjamin and Robert Jenkins transferred Ho onto their ship, the Marine Juliet, where they immediately treated him for hypothermia.Suffolk Police DepartmentGetty ImagesHe was brought ashore to the US Coast Guard Station on Fire Island where he was treated by Coast Guard medics before he was taken to Good Samaritan University Hospital in West Islip via ambulance.
United States Latest News, United States Headlines
Similar News:You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.
Long Island man rescued from Atlantic Ocean after treading water for 5 hours: Suffolk PDThe 63-year-old man went swimming at Cedar Beach around 5 a.m. Monday and was finally rescued around 10 a.m. nearly two miles away.
Read more »
Long Island swimmer alive after treading ocean water for 5 hoursA man from Long Island is recovering from hypothermia after treading water for about five hours in the Atlantic Ocean on Monday. Police in Suffolk County said a 63-year-old from Copiague went for a swim at Cedar Beach in Babylon around 5 a.m. When he went out into the open water, police said, he was pulled out by the current….
Read more »
Breakthrough in Long Island serial killings shines light on the many unsolved murders of sex workersTwo women out for an afternoon walk outside Atlantic City found a body in a ditch and called police, who quickly found three more
Read more »
Long Island serial killer case shines light on unsolved murders of sex workers in Atlantic CityTwo women out for an afternoon walk outside Atlantic City found a body in a ditch and called police, who quickly found three more. That was 17 years before police arrested Rex Heuermann in New York this month.
Read more »
Breakthrough in Long Island serial killings shines light on the many unsolved murders of sex workersTwo women out for an afternoon walk outside Atlantic City found a body in a ditch and called police, who quickly found three more
Read more »
Gilgo Beach murders: Police finish search at Rex Heuermann's Long Island homeMASSAPEQUA, N.Y. — (MASSAPEQUA, N.Y.) -- Authorities have concluded their search at the 'cluttered' house belonging to Gilgo Beach, New York, murder suspect Rex Heuermann, authorities said Tuesday.
Read more »