Military search and rescue saves fisherman off P.E.I., goes for lunch, saves choking victim

A military search and rescue crew had an eventful day Tuesday when it helped save not one, but two people in P.E.I in the span of an hour.

It began when someone spotted an unoccupied boat at about 11 a.m AT in Malpeque Bay and called 911.

A search and rescue helicopter and Hercules airplane were sent from Greenwood, N.S., as part of the Joint Rescue Co-ordination Centre (JRCC).

READ: Fisherman trapped on ice floe rescued off northeastern New Brunswick

RCMP say the fisherman, a 29-year-old man from Lennox Island, had been on his boat alone when a large wave knocked him overboard.

The JRCC spotted the boat, which had been going around in circles unoccupied, and rescuers plucked the man out of the water. He was transported to Prince County Hospital for treatment.

“The person who located the unoccupied boat and phoned 911 and JRCC’s quick response made all the difference in this positive outcome,” RCMP said in a news release.

But the story doesn’t end there.

According to The Aurora, a Canadian Forces newspaper based in the community of 14 Wing Greenwood, the Cormorant crew landed in Summerside for lunch shortly after the rescue.

Within an hour of the at-sea rescue, they encountered someone choking over their meal at the restaurant and two of the techs were able to save that person too.

People commenting on The Aurora’s Facebook page were quick to send messages of “bravo zulu,” a naval signal meaning “well done.”