SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico - The crew of a Coast Guard helicopter, Puerto Rico police and state and local Emergency Management crews combined efforts to rescue a man Sunday who was stranded on a beach at the bottom of a 200-foot cliff in Aguadilla, Puerto Rico.
Rescued is a 23-year-old man resident of Aguadilla, reportedly missing from his home since Saturday.
Coast Guard Watchstanders at Sector San Juan received a call from an Aguadilla Municipal police officer, who reported that the missing man had been located in a small beach off the cliffs by the Aguadilla lighthouse.
A Puerto Rico police officer aboard a Joint Forces of Rapid Action marine unit on scene was able to swim to the beach and provide assistance to the stranded man, while a Puerto Rico Emergency Management rescue crew rapelled down to the beach to assist.
Coast Guard Watchstanders diverted an Air Station Borinquen HH-65 Dolphin helicopter to the scene. The Coast Guard helicopter crew arrived on scene, deployed their rescue swimmer and hoisted the stranded man to the helicopter while hovering 20 to 30 feet away from the cliff.
The Coast Guard helicopter crew transferred the man in stable condition to awaiting Emergency Medical Services personnel at the Aguadilla golf course, who in turn, transported the patient to the Good Samaritan Hospital in Aguadilla to receive further medical care.