LORAIN – Lorain Officer Michael Hendershot heroically jumped into the 50-degree waters of the Black River Saturday morning and saved an 81-year-old man from drowning, officials said.

Boatswain’s Mate Marco Worsley with the Coast Guard said that without Hendershot’s intervention, the victim would have died.

“Honestly, if (Hendershot) wasn’t holding on to the guy, he probably would have drowned. He would have gone under the water and died,” Worsley said. “I think (Hendershot) played a huge part.”

Hendershot could not be reached for comment Saturday night.

The Coast Guard was called just before 9 a.m. about a man in the river near the Lorain Treatment Plant on Alabama Avenue.

“There’s a breakwall everyone fishes at,” Worsley said, adding that he didn’t know how the man ended up in the water.

When the Coast Guard arrived, Hendershot was in the water holding the victim near a ladder on the breakwall. Someone else had thrown the pair a line from the breakwall.

“The (victim) had been in the water for about 10 minutes at that point,” Worsley said. “He had a laceration on his left hand, his left arm was incapacitated. He had no feeling whatsoever in it. … He was suffering from severe hypothermia.”

Worsley said Hendershot was fine after his stint in the water.

“My crew assisted the officer and then we transferred (the victim) from the officer to our boat,” Worsley said. “From there, we went to Hot Waters Marina and met with local EMS.”

No one with the U.S. Coast Guard, LifeCare Ambulance Services or the Lorain Police Department knew the name of the elderly man Saturday night.

A spokesman for the Lorain Fire Department confirmed the man’s age but didn’t know his name.

Worsley said the victim was ultimately taken to Community Regional Medical Center in Lorain. Without a name, The Chronicle was unable to determine the man’s condition.

LifeCare transported the victim to the hospital.

Worsley said the Coast Guard has had several boat rescues this year, but said this was the first of a person who’d fallen into the water.

Contact Alicia Castelli at 329-7144 or acastelli@chroniclet.com.

---

Print this story
Report an inappropriate comment

---

In order to comment, you must agree to our user agreement and discussion guidelines.

Need help? Email Us.

---