|
Cuban saved by
Stanley resident
By Brian P. Heffron , Times
Staff Writer. Finger
Lakes Times, NY, March 29, 2004.
STANLEY - With the water off-limits Thursday
due to high waves and heavy riptides, Michael
Randazzo and his wife figured they'd just
catch a few rays in sunny Fort Lauderdale.
Instead, he helped a Cuban refugee catch
an opportunity for a better life.
"I was on the beach, and while we
were getting some sun and some sand, some
Cubans washed ashore," Randazzo told
the Times Saturday night from Florida.
He said he and his wife had been watching
some Coast Guard helicopters circling just
offshore when they noticed a crude raft
of inner tubes being tossed by the over
8-foot waves. One man was tossed overboard,
and when he got close enough, Randazzo and
another man waded out to help him to shore.
But with the riptide washing the sand out
from under their feet and constantly trying
to pull them under, they needed the help
of a half-dozen bystanders forming a human
chain to get even themselves back onto dry
land.
"If it wasn't for the help of people
on the beach, me and this other gentleman
could not have gotten this man out of the
water," he said. "We were just
constantly trying to right ourselves. You
couldn't stay out there; you would eventually
get sucked right out. That's what happens
with these riptides."
Wind gusts at the time were more than 30
mph with waves about 8 feet high. According
to Fort Lauderdale firefighter Jerry McIntee,
there was "an undertow that would pull
your clothes off."
McIntee said that there was no question
the Cuban - who was nearly passing out from
exhaustion and had swallowed some salt water
- would not have made it to shore if Randazzo
and others hadn't helped.
Two other Cubans - a man and a woman -
also made it to shore. Under the federal
government's wet foot/dry foot policy, doing
so will probably allow all three to stay
in America. Refugees picked up without setting
foot on dry land are returned to Cuba.
"Since they made it to shore, they're
here ... Eventually, they'll be allowed
to stay," Randazzo said.
The raft was one of two that had left Cuba
on March 18 carrying eight people. Randazzo
said the refugees said the other five drowned,
having walked right off the rafts while
delirious. The first to go was the woman's
husband.
"They'd been out there a week with
no water or anything. They couldn't do anything,"
Randazzo said.
Randazzo visited the survivors Friday and
said they are recovering and in stable condition
at Holy Cross Hospital in Fort Lauderdale.
Randazzo will receive a medal and Certificate
of Rescue from the Lauderdale-By-The-Sea
fire department, the Rochester Democrat
and Chronicle reported Saturday. He said
he was just trying to help someone in need
and thinks anyone would have done what he
did.
His son Matt wasn't surprised that his
dad wouldn't hesitate to help.
"That's the type of person he is,"
he said. "If there's someone in trouble
he'd help. I wouldn't put it past him."
Randazzo works for Felluca Overhead Garage
Door Co. in Rochester. He and his family
moved to Stanley in 1991 and go to Florida
every year to visit relatives. Matt Randazzo
said his parents left for this trip Tuesday.
Times Correspondent Nancy Ward and the
Associated Press contributed to this report.
bheffron@fltimes.com
|
