PORT CLINTON, Ohio — A good Samaritan rescued a woman who was in the Portage River near Port Clinton for 14 hours after falling of her jet ski.
The Coast Guard received a call around 8 p.m. on Sunday stating that a 57-year-old mother had fallen off of her jet ski and there was no sight of her.
Sector Detroit watchstanders issued an Urgent Marine Information Broadcast and launched a 45-foot response boat crew from Marblehead and a helicopter from Detroit to begin the search.
The helicopter found the jet ski around 1:15 a.m. Monday, with the woman's cell phone on board and the kill-switch detached. The search was heightened to 10 water assets and five air assets.
Crews from the U.S. Guard Stations in Marblehead, Toledo, Detroit and Traverse City, the Ohio Department of Natural Resources, Ottawa County, Put-In-Bay, Catawba, Port Clinton, Erie County, Canadian Air Force, and U.S. Coast Guard Morro Bay assisted in finding the woman.
All of those crews searched for almost 14 hours, covering 693 square miles.
A local charter boat rescued the woman around 9:30 a.m. Monday.
The woman was wearing a life jacket and had a sound-producing device.
Both of these devices led to her surviving the 79-degree water for nearly 14 hours.
The good Samaritan crew transported the woman to awaiting emergency medical services, where she was evaluated and transported to a local hospital.
