‘Partially paralyzed’ man stuck 9 hours in slowly sinking boat, LA rescuers say
A partially paralyzed man spent hours trapped in a “terrifying” predicament when his boat began sinking in a southeast Louisiana marsh, rescuers say.
The discovery was made just after sunset Friday, July 25, in a remote area along the banks of Lake Borgne.
“When a 57-year-old crabber didn’t return home from the East Pearl River, his family knew something wasn’t right,” the St. Tammany Parish Sheriff’s Office wrote in a July 30 Facebook post.
“They told deputies he was partially paralyzed on his left side due to a previous medical condition, and that he hadn’t been heard from since 10 a.m. By 5 p.m., he was officially missing.”
Multiple agencies joined in the search, starting from the man’s “usual launch point,” officials said. The search ended three hours later, in “a marshy area near Lake Borgne.”
“What they found was nothing short of terrifying. The man’s boat was partially submerged. His motor had failed. His phone had gone underwater. And he was in the water … exhausted, alone, and without any way to call for help,” the sheriff’s office said.
“Stranded for nearly nine hours, unable to move freely due to his medical condition, and surrounded by marshland, he was out of options.”
The man was pulled from the marsh by Sgt. Chuck White and Deputy John Hrabley with the parish’s Marine Division and taken for a medical evaluation, officials said. The man’s identity has not been released.
He was treated “for heat-related issues,” then taken home that same night, officials said. Temperatures rose to 90 degrees that day in the parish, AccuWeather reports.
“This is what we do. And on this day, it saved a life,” the sheriff’s office said.
The situation started when the man’s boat malfunctioned, and then his cellphone went “dead,” the Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries reports.
Lake Borgne is just east of New Orleans.
This story was originally published July 30, 2025 at 12:23 PM with the headline "‘Partially paralyzed’ man stuck 9 hours in slowly sinking boat, LA rescuers say."