Lost Kayaker Found After Writing "Help" In Sand With Sticks Near Queens

After missing for twelve hours, a kayaker was found in Jamaica Bay, after writing out “HELP” on the beach with sticks.

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The 36-year-old man was noticed by an NYPD Ation Unit at 11:30 PM, Thursday. In addition to spelling out “HELP” on the beach, he lit a fire as well.

“I did find a lighter, and miraculously it was functional, so I lit a little fire on the beach,” he said. “It was likely I was gonna spend the night there … I believe people trap certain fruits in Jamaica Bay, so there’s a couple of coconuts on that island that I opened up and I drank a little bit of coconut water from.”

“[The men in the ambulance] were two guys from Illinois who specifically came to New York to deal with the COVID situation,” he said. “I kind of felt ashamed I was tying up all these resources … but everyone was super nice to me and I’m glad I made it out of there.”

The NYPD Special Ops Twitter page released a video of the man being found and joked, “A kayaker takes social distancing to the next level. #NYPD Ation found the uninjured male stranded on a remote island in Jamaica Bay, Queens.” 

[Via]