Marquise Hill
Posted on 05/28/2007 8:43:57 AM PDT by abb
(CBS) BOSTON New England Patriots defensive end Marquise Hill is missing in Louisiana after a jet skiing accident.
His agent, Albert Elias, told CBS and a woman were on a jet ski in Lake Pontchartrain during the day Sunday when they hit a wave and fell off.
Elias said Hill, 24, saved the woman's life by helping her float to a nearby pylon, but Hill drifted in another direction.
Elias said Hill can swim, but the woman could not, so he tried helping her, before the water pulled him away.
"As he's drifting away from her he was giving her instructions just to stay calm, not to fight the water and sure enough, pretty much saved her life."
By the time search and rescue teams arrived it was late at night. Elias said the lake has a strong undertow.
Hill is 6 feet 6 inches tall and weighs 300 pounds, according to the Patriots web site.
He was born in New Orleans in August 1982 and graduated from high school there. He played college football at LSU and was drafted by the Patriots in the second round in 2004.
Hill has played three seasons with the Patriots in a backup role.
The Patriots have not commented yet
http://blog.nola.com/times-picayune/2007/05/coast_guard_search_continues_f.html
Coast Guard search continues for NFL player
Posted by ashaw May 28, 2007 09:52AM
Rescuers are searching Lake Pontchartrain for former LSU football standout Marquise Hill, now a defensive end for the New England Patriots, who went missing Sunday night after falling off a a jet ski, the Coast Guard reported.
Petty Officer Tom Atkeson said the Coast Guard has crews in a helicopter and boat searching the lake near the Industrial Canal. The Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries has also joined the search with another boat.
A man and woman were reported falling into the water from a recreational craft about 9 p.m. Sunday. They apparently were heading to the Seabrook boat launch. The Orleans Levee Board Police said that a passing boat had briefly picked up the man, but he jumped back in the water to look for the woman.
The woman was rescued after a passerby heard someone calling for help. The woman had apparently grabbed onto a piling or other structure in the lake.
Atkeson said the search for Hill will continue at least as long as daylight hours today.
Hill, a New Orleans native who graduated from De La Salle High School, has played in the NFL since 2004 and was a member of LSU’s national championship-winning 2003 Tigers.
Praying the find him soon and he is alive.
I’m very sorry to hear this. It’s a shame they didn’t have life vests.
Uh oh. Prayers for Marquise Hill.
Ping
If you go on the water, you need to know how to swim and you need to wear a PFD, even if you're a strong swimmer. Especially on a jet ski, where it's easy to have a high-impact fall that could knock you out cold or addle you.
And it's better to take a boat to go look for somebody in the water, rather than swim. You can see better and you can help them once you find them.
Bad decisions all round here.
Prayers for all in peril.
For a 300 lb man to get on with another person and not wear a life vest is pretty stupid
Too bad for his family, teammates and fans
Not to minimize the situation, but didn't these people ever hear of proofreading?
If he had the presence of mind to save the women let’s pray that he is floating, maintaining his energy and will be found alive!
True that. Bad decisions + water = death.
Too many people simply don't realize this.
Also 300 lbs. + moderate bodyfat percentage = big rock.
Strong people often don't realize that strong /= buoyant.
I still sank like a rock. If I crammed my lungs full of air I could float, so long as I kept as much of my body underwater as possible. Thank goodness for Fred Lanoue's drownproofing course.
Fortunately childbirth, a desk job, and advancing age have taken care of that problem. I float very nicely now. < sigh >
Prayer for this hero.
I remember him calling them "sinkers" and he had them jump in first (this was in 1966, so maybe not so PC as might be today), and sure as hell there wasn't a whole lot of bouyancy in that group.
People (particularly males) of African descent have higher bone density and more muscle mass. It's not insurmountable (I was quite a sinker myself as a teenager) but managing it has to be taught - you can't just jump in the water and learn to swim by trial and error.
Add that to the social factor that very few of them have learned how to swim, and you have a real problem.
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