Fisherman Accidentally Impaled by Spear on Boat off Ocean City Coast
A fisherman is in critical condition tonight after he was shot in the head and impaled by a spear fired by a speargun.
Petty Officer 3rd-Class Shannon Kearney, Coast Guard spokeswoman, says the accident happened on board a 25-foot cabin cruiser about 35 nautical miles off the Ocean City coast and was reported just before 2 p.m. Sunday.
The Coast Guard launched rescue vessels from Ocean City and Indian River and a helicopter from Atlantic City.聽 The helicopter crew responded to rendezvous with the cabin cruiser.
Once on scene, a rescue swimmer was lowered from the helicopter to assist with treatment.聽 They brought the patient to Coast Guard Station Ocean City.聽 That is where a Maryland State Police helicopter landed and flew the man to the R. Adams Cowley Shock Trauma Center at the University of Maryland in Baltimore.
Around 6:15 p.m., the trauma center requested a rescue squad from the Baltimore City Fire Department to assist with removing the spear.
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