AGUADILLA, Puerto Rico (WKZO-AM) — A 68-year-old retired engineer from Kalamazoo is being treated for dehydration and coral reef cuts in a Puerto Rican hospital after he fell off a sailboat in the Atlantic Ocean and swam seven hours to safety.
David Thompson said rough sailing in 20-knot winds and 10-foot swells knocked him off the vessel at around 1 p.m. Sunday, and surging water tore off his life vest, his safety line and, eventually, his clothes.
He told a reporter with the Associated Press he alternated between floating and swimming toward the northern coast of the island over the four-mile span.
Thompson was given food, water and clothes after stumbling into a resort in Isabella. He was then rushed to a private hospital in Aguadilla.
