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This item was recently submitted by a reader.
Should I include it in the archive?
Vote to tell me what *you* think!

Homemade Raft, revised

2012 Reader Submission
Pending Acceptance

Dear Darwin Moderators, In response to your comments about an article I submitted yesterday, I have found another two articles detailing more information about my candidate and his homemade raft.

I appreciate your consideration. Thank you.

From http://gothamist.com/2012/01/12/video_teen_testing_homemade_raft_re.php:

Since your homemade raft probably won't fit in the bathtub, the next best option has to be the East River, right? The Fire Department's Marine Unit 6 rescued an 18-year-old from the river near 87th Street around 6 p.m. Firefighter Michael Krochak told NBC New York, "We witnessed a person in the water struggling, hanging on to a life ring supported by a rope over a sea wall 40 feet in the air off the East River Drive. That was the only thing he had for support at that point."

Apparently the man's raft "deflated" and he was left in the cold water, estimated to be in the 40s. While MyFoxNY reports, "It is not clear why the man was rafting in the water on a poorly made inflatable raft," fire officials told NBC New York "it appeared the man was attempting to test out a homemade raft. The man, who was described as "coherent" upon rescue, was brought to New York Hospital for treatment

From http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/01/13/sam-phillips-saved-from-east-river-raft-deflates_n_1204322.html?ref=new-york:

Emergency responders rescued a teen stranded in the East River Thursday night after his homemade raft deflated.

Firefighters received a call at about 6PM for a person in the water at 87th Street near Gracie Mansion. Arriving at the scene, they found 18-year-old Sam Phillips, who had been riding his DIY 15-foot Zodiac-type raft in the 43-degree water.

Cops had spotted the teen as well and tossed him a life ring from a 40 foot seawall.

"We witnessed a person in the water struggling, hanging on to a life ring supported by a rope over a sea wall 40 feet in the air off the East River Drive," Michael Krochak of Marine Unit 6, told NBC New York. "That was the only thing he had for support at that point."

Phillips had been in the water 20 minutes when Krochak dove in and grabbed him. Another diver then hoisted them onto an FDNY boat.

Phillips was not seriously hurt but was taken to the hospital to be checked for hypothermia. Krochak called him a "lucky kid."

Fire officials tell NBC New York "it appeared the man was attempting to test out a homemade raft."

It was the second water rescue performed Thursday. In the morning, members of the NYPD Emergency Services Unit saved a woman who drove her car into the Hudson River.

Submitted on 01/14/2012

Submitted by: Jonathan
Reference: gothamist.com & huffingtonpost.com, 1/12/12

Copyright © 2012 DarwinAwards.com

>> Moderator Scores <<

Bruce said:
Definitely Toss: Lacks Excellence
Thanks, Jonathan, but there still isn't enough information here for me to vote for this. I even checked out other articles via Google News but couldn't find anything compelling enough. The proble for me is that there's little information available on exactly what he was doing, just on the rescue itself. Granted, being on the East River at night in January may sound like a stupid thing to do it's just not enough for me. And there's still virtually no information on this "homemade" raft he may have been using. And for all we know he was using it as a life raft after another boat had trouble. Thanks just the same.


Candi said:
Definitely Toss: Lacks Excellence
What Bruce said.


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