Cruise Ship Jumper Can Thank 300-Pound Girth for Helping Save Life

Fox News reporting ^ | 03/17/2007 | Fox News

[sodpoodle]

MIAMI — A 35-year-old Orlando man can thank his 300-pound girth for helping save his life after he jumped off a cruise ship and drifted 20 miles for more than eight hours with a collapsed lung before rescuers found him in the Atlantic Ocean.

[sodpoodle]

The Coast Guard's operation cost $72,955, according to Nancy Nelsen, civilian search and rescue specialist in Miami.

[trumandogz]

Send Fat Boy the bill.

[holymoly]

He's lucky a Japanese whaler didn't find him.

[NavVet]

He's so fat that the doctor diagnosed him with a flesh eating disease and gave him 87 years to live.

[kjam22]

At the end the article said he was drunk when he jumped. So this is a "hold muy beer and watch this"???

[VOA]

with a collapsed lung

Painful, but obviously survivable.

As I can tell from personal experience, with a right lung that
spontaneously collapsed three times over a couple of years in
high school.

It was fixed by a good thoracic surgeon with a row of surgical staples
(looked like a zipper on X-rays!).
Haven't sprung a leak in decades!

That surgeon was a great contrast to some sub-par MDs I've
survived in the following years!

[sodpoodle]

That's why I posted it. Did you read the Orlando Sentinel article?

Pity that poor 16 year-old godson. What a jerk for a godfather.

[inflorida]

Why did he jump? Too much to drink?

[SIDENET]

He's so fat, even his blue jeans have stretch marks.

[sodpoodle]

apparently, the 16 year-old godson wanted to party with some young friends and the jerk got into a drunken argument and jumped overboard.

The linked article has more details - Orlando Sentinel.

[DManA]

He stopped walking when he found out it it was easier to roll. (I listened to Rush yesterday too)

[DManA]

He stopped walking when he found out it it was easier to roll. (I listened to Rush yesterday too)

[snarks_when_bored]

Sal Wega, 16, Mankamyer's godson and cruise-ship roommate, argued with him before jumping over the side.

This sentence would make a school marm jump over the side...if school marms weren't extinct.

[inflorida]

I hope they make this dumba$$ pay for his rescue.

[Thombo2]

Most singles take cruises to meet members of the opposite sex.Probably figured he'd find a babe on board...Struck out,got drunk over it,depressed,decided to end it.

[gaijin]

This sounds eerily homoerotic. 35 year old dude goes on a cruise with his godson, then they have a lover's tiff, or something twisted....

Weird meter is pegging...

[kjam22]

I'll bet it REALLY hurt when he hit the water!

[Fiddlstix]

BTTT

[vox humana]

The article was obviously written by someone who never learned the basic rules of English grammar. In addition to the sentence you cited, "girth" would be measured in inches, not pounds. The reporter probably went to one of those "pubic skools."

[sodpoodle]

I know!

Did the article indicate whether they were with a larger group?

I'll have to double check.