| Office of Public Affairs U.S. Coast Guard First District |
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| Press Release |
Date: August 2, 2009 |
| Coast Guard rescues man who fell from a pier in Eastport, Maine |
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BOSTON — A Station Eastport, Maine petty officer helped rescue a 21-year-old man who fell from the Eastport Pier about 100 yards away from the station Sunday at 5:38 p.m. Two people nearby witnessed the man fall about 20 feet into the water, which is 53 degrees Fahrenheit. They ran over to the Coast Guard Station, where they noticed Petty Officer 2nd Class Shawn C. Wilkinson working on the Station's 41-foot utility boat. Wilkinson grabbed a life ring from the boat and ran over to the pier after alerting the Station, which launched a 25-foot response boat at 5:39 p.m. Wilkinson tossed the life ring to the man, who was clinging to a piling, and the response boat arrived shortly after to pull the man aboard the Coast Guard boat at 5:44 p.m. He was brought back to the station and transferred to an ambulance, which took him to Calais Medical Hospital, where he was treated for lacerations to the right knee. The man was also very cold and shivering. It is unclear exactly what caused him to fall, but he did not appear to be drinking alcohol. His injuries were not considered serious when he was put onto the ambulance. "I was working on one of our boats when I noticed a lot of commotion and saw two people running over to get my attention," said Wilkinson. "The man was fortunate to have fallen so close to our station, and we were glad we were able to rescue him very quickly. The water is very cold here, so both me and our response boat crew worked together to get this man out of the water as soon as possible."
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