Submitted by the U.S. Coast Guard 13th District Pacific Northwest

On Monday, July 2, a Coast Guard Air Station Port Angeles aircrew, aboard a helicopter, medically evacuated a 70-year-old woman from a sailing vessel that ran aground near Sucia Island in the vicinity of Oak Harbor.

Watchstanders at Coast Guard Sector Puget Sound received a distress call at 12:45 p.m., via VHF-FM radio channel 16 from the captain of a 36-foot sailing vessel reporting the grounding and ensuing injury to one of the passengers. The vessel had three people onboard. The sailing vessel was towed to Anacortes and the adult male and child were removed from the vessel by BoatUS. The injured female was hoisted into the helicopter and transported to Bellingham Hospital via emergency medical services from the Bellingham Airport. Watch a video of the airlift below.

Rescue footage of 70-year-old woman from a sailing vessel that ran aground near Sucia Island:

Contributed photo/Petty Officer 1st Class Levi Read, U.S. Coast Guard District 13 Petty Officers 3rd Class Jordan Harlacher and Matthew Boyd prepare to transfer an injured woman off a sailing vessel that ran aground near Sucia Island with the help of an aviation survival technician from Air Station Port Angeles.