A woman riding a personal watercraft was found in cardiac arrest in the waters off Fort Lauderdale Beach and subsequently hospitalized Thursday afternoon. According to WSVN, the woman had removed her life jacket and was seen either falling or jumping from a Yamaha watercraft before failing to resurface.
The incident triggered a significant search and rescue operation, with Fort Lauderdale Fire Rescue deploying a jet ski, the combined efforts of their Fire Boat 49, and lifeguards from Fort Lauderdale Ocean Rescue. The woman, found by the rescue team, was deemed 50 to 60 feet from the shoreline, was discovered submerged and, after being pulled from the water, it appeared that she was in serious trouble, according to Local 10 News.
Witnesses at the scene described an urgent scene as she was located and attended by first responders. Vincent Thompson recalled to WSVN, "One guy ran and about five minutes later, he kept going up and down to the beach, and he screamed, 'Call the Coast Guard.' Two of them got on the Jet Skis, and they could not find her." Earlier, he observed something amiss: the woman's carrying, baffling onlookers, was a backpack apparently heavy.
Cellphone video captured rescue boats circling the search area, as confirmed by WSVN, with first responders observed giving the woman CPR on a boat which witness Steve Mann provided. "One of the signals, they had her, brought her out, and we could see them doing CPR on her on the boat," Mann told the station. After being pulled from the ocean, before she was placed on a stretcher, where paramedics tried to revive her as she lay unresponsive and in cardiac arrest.
The woman was taken to Holy Cross Hospital in critical condition; however, her current status remains unreported. Local 10 News flew over as she arrived at the hospital. The identity of the woman, as well as the details leading to her being submerged, such as how long she was underwater or the reason behind her vest removal, have yet to be disclosed by investigators.
