GLOUCESTER, VA -- Like any Coast Guard Auxiliary member, Fred Angelo has a habit of looking all around him when he's out on his boat. After a day of fishing on the York River on Wednesday, October 24, Angelo was sweeping the river when he looked astern and saw a personal watercraft adrift.

Minutes earlier, about 3:30 p.m., the retired Williamsburg banker had seen a young man in a sweatshirt, jeans and boots performing stunts on it in the York near the Perrin River. "He was just racing around," Angelo said.

When he saw the riderless personal watercraft about a half-mile from shore, Angelo turned around. He figured that he would just make sure the young man got back to the personal watercraft. But when he reached 18-year-old Hayes, VA, resident (name withheld), the teen was exhausted, panicking and slipping under the 59-degree water. "I knew I had to do something in a hurry," Angelo said Thursday.

Angelo is Vice Flotilla Commander of the Coast Guard Auxiliary's District 5 Southern Region, Division 6, Flotilla 7. The unit is based in Williamsburg, VA.

Auxiliary members train regularly to conduct non-police or military work, such as safety inspections or patrolling in their own boats.

When Angelo reached (the victim), who wasn't wearing a life jacket, the young man was too exhausted to try to swim a short distance to the boat. Angelo threw a life preserver, which landed about 3 feet from him. "He couldn't even reach it," Angelo said.

Then Angelo watched the teen go under. "But he was young, a young guy," Angelo said, "so, some way, he came up."

Angelo grabbed an aluminum pole with a hook on the end and extended it out to (the victim), who managed to hang on while Angelo hauled him toward the boat. But (the victim) was too exhausted to get into the boat, so Angelo took a line and lashed him to the cleat of the boat, then he called the Coast Guard.

Eventually, (the victim) gathered enough strength, with Angelo’s help, got into the boat, and collapsed. "He just basically lay on the floor there," Angelo said. "He couldn't say anything. He was totally exhausted."

Angelo figures that (the victim) was in the water for no more than a few minutes. Angelo said he never found out why (the victim) was riding the personal watercraft in the York River without a life jacket. A man who answered the telephone at (the victim’s) home hung up without commenting.

A Coast Guard spokesman said (the victim) was trying out the personal watercraft. The young man was taken to Riverside Walter Reed Hospital in Gloucester, treated and released.

For Angelo, the incident reinforces safety measures such as wearing a life jacket on the water: "It would've been a slam dunk if he had his personal flotation device on."

Copyright © 2004, Daily Press

Editor’s note: It was SITREP’s decision to withhold the name of the victim. The original story, as published in the Hampton Roads Daily Press on October 29, 2004, did indicate the victim’s name. SITREP received permission to reprint the article and to withhold the victim’s name.