Subscribe

(Tribune News Service) — The U.S. Coast Guard and Navy worked together to rescue a man found “unresponsive” in the water off the Florida Keys on Wednesday morning, officials say.

A boater called 911 to report seeing a man in the water unable to get back to his boat near Alligator Reef off Lower Matecumbe Key in the Upper Keys around 9:45 a.m., said Petty Officer Nicole Groll, a Coast Guard spokeswoman.

When a Coast Guard patrol boat crew from Station Islamorada reached the man, he was unconscious, Groll said.

A U.S. Navy helicopter was flying in the area and its crew picked the man up from the Coast Guard boat and evacuated “him to a higher level of care,” Groll said.

It was not immediately known to which hospital the Navy helicopter flew him, and his condition was not immediately known.

This is a developing story.

©2023 Miami Herald.

Visit miamiherald.com.

Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.

A Navy MH-60S Sea Hawk helicopter.

A Navy MH-60S Sea Hawk helicopter. (Andrew Langholf/U.S. Navy)

Sign Up for Daily Headlines

Sign up to receive a daily email of today's top military news stories from Stars and Stripes and top news outlets from around the world.

Sign Up Now