A New York hunter had to be rescued when his kayak capsized in the chilly waters off Mastic Beach in Narrow Bay. The Suffolk County Police Department was called to the scene Sunday by the man's cousin and friend who were watching from the shore. The man, identified as Nick Shakalis, was retrieving a goose he had shot from the water when a gust of wind knocked him over, stranding him in the cold water. Shakalis told KCRA, "For a moment, I thought I was going to die. I just held on for dear life."
The police department responded with a helicopter, and Police Officer Jonathan Jensen, a rescue swimmer with the Emergency Service Section, jumped in to save him.
"It was a little scary seeing the condition that he was in," Jensen said. Shakalis, 34, had spent 40 minutes in the water before Jensen began helping him get to shore. First responders said Shakalis was not very responsive when Jensen reached him. "The one thing he did say when I was in the water, which struck me—he said, 'Help me.'"
Authorities were not surprised that he was out of it. "With water temperature like this, a person is unable to help themself after about within 20 minutes in the water," Sgt. John Vahey, command pilot with the Suffolk County Police Department, told Fox5NY. "We were getting closer to the critical time period."
Jensen helped him to Pattersquash Island, which was a quarter-mile away. There, he began giving Shakalis aid while they waited for the helicopter to pick him up.
The helicopter flew Shakalis to Stony Brook Hospital, where he was treated for hypothermia. "I definitely consider myself lucky to be alive," he said. He also credits the first responders for saving his life, saying he is "forever grateful" to them. "I've never felt more alive."
