Man was rescued by Coast Guard and Navy crews, but he died at a Florida Keys hospital
The U.S. Coast Guard and Navy worked together to rescue a man found “unresponsive” in the water off the Florida Keys on Wednesday morning, officials say.
However, the man, 72-year-old Mark J. Gosciminski, from South Easton, Massachusetts, died at Mariners Hospital in Tavernier after a Navy helicopter crew brought him there, the Monroe County Sheriff’s Office said Thursday.
“There was no sign of foul play,” said Adam Linhardt, sheriff’s office spokesman. “Autopsy results are pending.”
A boater called 911 to report seeing a man in the water unable to get back to his boat near Alligator Reef off Lower Matecumbe Key in the Upper Keys around 9:45 a.m., said Petty Officer Nicole Groll, a Coast Guard spokeswoman.
When a Coast Guard patrol boat crew from Station Islamorada reached the man, he was unconscious, Groll said.
A U.S. Navy helicopter was flying in the area and its crew picked the man up from the Coast Guard boat and “medivaced him to a higher level of care,” Groll said.
This story was originally published April 19, 2023 at 12:02 PM.
