Man Rescued From Deserted Island After Raft Drifts for 5 Days
Published at | Updated at
Ivan Cholakov/iStock/Thinkstock(NEW YORK) — A man who was stranded for six days — five days on the water and then one on an uninhabited island in the Bahamas — has been rescued by the Coast Guard.
Larry Sutterfield, 39, was found on the island in an area between Florida and Cuba on Monday night.
The Coast Guard said Tuesday that during a routine maritime patrol, officers had noticed smoke coming from the uninhabited island. They then saw Sutterfield, naked and waving his arms.
“They dropped food and water and a VHF radio to him to find out what kind of stress [he was] in,” said US Coast Guard Petty Officer Jean Paul Rios.
According to the Coast Guard, Sutterfield was going on a camping trip from the Florida Keys when the motor on his inflatable raft conked out and left him drifting at sea.
The Coast Guard said he’d told them he’d been on the island called Cay Sal Bank for a little more than 24 hours. Rios said Sutterfield had drifted about 75 to 80 miles.
Sutterfield was taken to a Florida hospital, where he was reportedly said to be suffering from a bad sunburn but in “fair condition.”
Follow @ABCNewsRadio
Copyright 2014 ABC News Radio