NEWBURYPORT — On Monday, Oct. 6, at 5:35 p.m., the Newburyport Fire Department received a 911 call from a Jet Ski operator who was thrown from his watercraft when he was struck by a breaking wave at the mouth of the Merrimack River.
According to a statement from Newburyport’s Fire Chief Stephen Bradbury III, the operator, a 37-year-old man, sustained serious but non-life-threatening injuries. Despite being hurt, he was wearing a life jacket and managed to return to his watercraft and ride it to Newburyport Harbor.
Newburyport firefighters launched the department’s new rescue boat, the Raven’s Nest, from the Cashman Park Boat Ramp and transported the injured man from Newburyport Harbor to shore, where Atlantic Ambulance was waiting to bring him to a local hospital.
Newburyport Police and Massachusetts Environmental Police assisted at the scene, while firefighters also recovered and returned the man’s personal watercraft to shore.
“It is fortunate that this individual was being responsible and wearing a life jacket when this incident occurred,” Chief Bradbury said. “This might have been a much more serious incident otherwise.”
