February 12, 2014 — A fisherman who was pulled overboard and down into the frigid Atlantic by a sinking string of lobster traps Wednesday morning off York County was pulled back on board and successfully given CPR by his crew.
Devin Pesce, 19, of Lisbon Falls was in serious condition at Southern Maine Health Care in Biddeford on Wednesday night, a spokeswoman said.
After being on the verge of death, Pesce walked off the boat on his own, said Lucky Oppedisano, who was on the boat along with Pesce’s father, Dan, the owner and captain. Oppedisano called it a blessing.
“When you bring somebody back to life, it makes you think about all the other stuff that’s really not important,” he said.
Dan Pesce could not be reached Wednesday.
Devin Pesce was working on his father’s 42-foot boat, the Kylie Brooke out of Harpswell, pulling and rebaiting traps 15 miles east of Cape Porpoise.
The long line of connected traps, called strings or trawls, was in water 200 to 300 feet deep, where lobsters go in cold weather.
The swells were just 1.3 feet, but it was cold. The water temperature was 38.7 degrees and the air temperature was 14.5 degrees, the Coast Guard said.
Read the full story at the Portland Press Herald