As local water sports operator Peter ‘PJ’ Balls mourns the loss of a man he tried to save on Sunday at the Stingray Sandbar, he has called on swimmers to be each other’s keeper in the water.
Balls, speaking with the Cayman Compass via telephone on Tuesday, said he was upset by the “sad result” on Sunday after trying his best to save a 51-year-old Cayman resident who got into distress at the popular tourist attraction.
He said the man’s death affected him as it was the first time in his many years at sea that he had been called upon to administer CPR in a life-and-death situation.
Following this experience, he is urging those getting into the water to do so safely.
“Just make sure you’re being safe, responsible and you’re watching out for each other,” he said, adding that the sea can be dangerous if people are not careful.
Balls said he was working at the popular tourist site after 4pm on Sunday, when he was alerted to calls from a female swimmer nearby that her friend was in trouble.
He saw a man face down in the water, and immediately kicked into action.
“When I approached him, he was aspirating already in the water,” he said. “I grabbed him… I knew we have to do CPR on him. He was in the middle of the sandbar in waist-high water.”
He said he and others tried to resuscitate the man until the Coast Guard arrived and took over the rescue.
When Coast Guard took the man away, Balls said he hoped for the best, but later that night he said he learned that the man did not survive.
“I hoped for a better circumstance,” he said, adding if faced with a similar situation he would do it again.
He said he had around 20 guests, including children, on his boat at the time.
Those onboard, he said, sought to shield the kids from the rescue efforts.
The RCIPS, in a statement Tuesday afternoon, confirmed the man’s death.
They said that, at about 4:40pm on Sunday, Coast Guard officers responded to a report of a person in distress at the Stingray City Sandbar.
Police said a man had been in the water when he experienced difficulties and became unresponsive.
CPR was performed by people at the scene until Coast Guard officers arrived, police said.
The victim was then transported back to shore by the Coast Guard vessel as CPR continued by the officers onboard.
He was then taken to the Cayman Islands Hospital via ambulance where he was subsequently pronounced dead.
The identity of the man has not been released.
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