Waves can be often deceiving as one Florida man learned recently. While riding his Sea-Doo off the coast of Tampa near Egmont Key earlier this month, Alex Preston and his father captured an incredible accident involving a fellow rider while capturing video of a passing cargo ship. What he caught was absolutely shocking.
As the waves from the ship came upon them, Alex decided to play around with them a bit. While he slowly went over the first wave, he witnessed a rider in the near distance hit the large waves head on at a high rate of speed. The wave launched the rider and his PWC quite a distance into the air and threw him off his craft. Figuring the rider would probably be in some serious trouble, Alex and his father quickly raced over to the scene to find the PWC floating driver-less and the rider unconscious, badly cut across the neck and floating face down in the water.
“He was in bad shape when I got to him. He was unconscious for a few minutes and would have surely drowned. I should also note, that just 10 minutes before this I was riding near a large bull shark and over the day we had spotted many sharks swimming. Yes, it crossed my mind that I was in the water with someone bleeding.”
This is a perfect example of why you should always invest in a quality life vest. Sadly, this rider’s life vest appears to be a cheap version that unfortunately didn’t do its job and left him face down in the water. They’re supposed to roll somebody face up when they are USCG approved. Alex and his father tended to the rider until he was taken to the beach by his friend where paramedics then transported him to the hospital. Alex has been in touch with him since the accident and he is thankfully recovering well.
Alex says, “I wanted to share this video for a couple of reasons. First it was an incredible incident that happened to be captured on film. Second, it shows the importance of wearing a life vest. If he had not of had one on, I would not have been able to find him. Third, pretty crazy how the life vest kept him face down and was going to drown him. Fourth, if I ever plan on going “Big” off of waves, I will wear a helmet. Fifth, if you do plan on jumping, ride with a friend.”
[The video does contain graphic images and language. -Ed.]
