STRONG — Firefighters rescued a man from the Sandy River on Tuesday night after his kayak flipped, leaving him to float downstream in high water before he could grab onto a tree in the river.
Robert Cavaliere of Strong celebrated his 50th birthday Tuesday like no other. He intended to kayak from the ballpark at the Route 145 bridge in Strong to the Fairbanks bridge in Farmington, but he ended up taking a cold swim in the raging river, Maine Warden Jonathan Parker said.
Cavaliere, alone on the river, made it about half-way to Fairbanks when his kayak overturned, spilling him into swiftly moving water. As he floated downstream, he was able to grab hold of a tree in the river and climb into it, Strong fire Chief Duayne Boyd said.
Neither Parker nor Boyd could say how far Cavaliere floated, but according to Google maps, he could have been carried a couple of miles by the current.
Although wet, Cavaliere’s cellphone still worked and he called 911 just before 7 p.m. About 15 Strong and Farmington Fire and Rescue firefighters responded as the man tried to tell the 911 dispatcher where he thought he was.
He was only guessing. The man was actually north of that area, Boyd said. When firefighters didn’t find him, they sounded the truck sirens as the man continued talking with 911 and was able to say when the firefighters reached a point near him.
After finding him, rescuers were challenged with how to get him out of the river that was swollen from more than three days of rain.
The Farmington firefighters have a small, inflatable rescue raft. They tied a rope to it and threw the rope out to the tree, then guided the raft to the tree. Once the man got onto the raft and let go of the tree, the firefighters, who held onto the other end of the rope, pulled the raft to shore.
Cavaliere was cold and wet but not injured. A NorthStar ambulance crew checked on him and provided blankets to help warm him when he got out of the river, but he was not taken to a hospital.
He was in the water and hanging onto the tree for nearly an hour, Parker said. Another half an hour, and hypothermia likely would have set in, he said.
Cavaliere was wearing a life jacket; otherwise, the circumstances could have been different, Parker said. Cavaliere also had a trip itinerary, and he informed friends and family of where he was going to start and end, the warden said.
abryant@sunjournal.com
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