Suffered head injury

Austrian rescued in Italy after sailing accident

An Austrian sailor (60) was rescued by a fire department helicopter on Saturday afternoon after an accident on board a boat around 22 kilometers off the Italian coast.

A 60-year-old man was sailing about twelve nautical miles from the Italian coast of Mestre when he was hit on the head by the underside of the mainsail due to strong gusts of wind. 

The man suffered a head injury and the rain and cold meant that he quickly became hypothermic. A group traveling with him called the rescue services, who preferred to intervene with a helicopter due to the rough seas.

Spectacular rescue
The firefighters reached the sailboat on board the "Drago 1" helicopter, one of them lowered himself onto the deck of the boat with the winch and picked up the injured man. The sailor was then flown to hospital in Mestre.

The Austrian, whose origin is not known in detail, is not in mortal danger. However, he remains under observation due to the blow to the head, it was reported.