LI Kayaker Pulled Under After Waders Fill With Water In Great South Bay: Police

BABYLON, NY — Suffolk County Police Marine Bureau officers rescued a 68-year-old man Wednesday after his kayak swamped in the Great South Bay and his waders filled with water, pulling him underwater, police said.

Officers responded around 11:07 a.m. after a 911 caller reported a kayaker in distress about a quarter-mile off Sore Thumb Beach, police said.

The Shirley man had been clamming from his kayak when the vessel swamped and his waders filled with water, forcing him underwater, according to police.

Good Samaritans pulled the man from the water and brought him onto a sandbar before officers Christopher Maggio, Thomas Ciota, Kyle Profit and Brendan Grogan arrived, police said.

The officers waded through knee-deep water to reach the semiconscious man, police said. They secured him to a backboard and carried him to the Marine Bureau vessel Marine Juliet, which transported him back to land.

The man was taken to South Shore University Hospital for treatment, police said.