Boy, 11, airlifted to Miami after diving in the Keys, police say

An 11-year-old Rochester, Minnesota boy was airlifted from the Lower Keys to a Miami-Dade hospital Tuesday morning after diving, police said.

The boy was diving in 20 feet of water with his family and a divemaster with a commercial dive boat out of Captain Hook’s Marina and Dive Center, at Looe Key off Ramrod Key, according to the Monroe County Sheriff’s Office.

They were in the water about 35 minutes, the sheriff’s office said.

Everyone surfaced but the boy began convulsing, said Adam Linhardt, a spokesman for the sheriff’s office.

“He was conscious and breathing,” Linhardt said.

The sheriff’s office was notified at about 10:49 a.m.

The boy was airlifted by Trauma Star to Nicklaus Children’s Hospital near South Miami. On Wednesday, the sheriff’s office reported the boy was in stable condition and is expected to recover.

This story was originally published March 30, 2021 at 4:17 PM.

Gwen Filosa

Miami Herald

Gwen Filosa covers Key West and the Lower Florida Keys for FLKeysNews.com and the Miami Herald and lives in Key West. She was part of the staff at the New Orleans Times-Picayune that in 2005 won two Pulitzer Prizes for coverage of Hurricane Katrina. She graduated from Indiana University.