By Anna Mitchell
Anderson Independent-Mail
WESTMINSTER — A man who collapsed on the shore of a Hartwell Lake cove was spotted by young people riding Jet Skis and ferried to the nearest emergency responders by boat.
The man survived the medical incident, and his identity is being withheld for privacy reasons, Oconee County Fire Chief Charlie King said Sunday.
The event was unique, King said, because the water was the easiest way to get him help.
The South Carolina Department of Natural Resources is investigating the matter, which was called in at 11:47 a.m. Saturday. Several agencies responded, including the Oakway Rescue Squad, Oconee County Emergency Squad 21, and the South Union Fire Department.
Steve Zahn, a member of the dive team and special rescue team, said the man was fortunate to have been spotted quickly by passers-by.
“It was a couple of kids on Jet Skis riding through this long, narrow cove,” Zahn said, adding that he did not have the riders’ names or ages.
King said the man was working on his own property when he fell ill.
“The important thing is we got him out,” Zahn said.
The jet skiers flagged down a passing boat to assist them with the patient. The patient was then ferried to the Choestoea Boat Ramp in Foxwood Hills, where emergency responders waited for about 10 minutes before the patient arrived for emergency care,
The patient was stabilized, loaded onto a longboard and wheeled to the waiting ambulance.
The state Department of Natural Resources is investigating the incident.
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