PORT ANGELES — A 63-year-old man was out of Olympic Medical Center and back with his wife about 2½ hours after the onset of medical difficulties prompted the MV Coho ferry to return to Port Angeles mid-sail Friday morning.
The man, whose name and hometown were not available Friday, began to complain of heart pain and trouble breathing about 30 minutes after the ferry left at 8:15 a.m. from Port Angeles en route to Victoria across the Strait of Juan de Fuca, said Rian Anderson, district manager of Black Ball Ferry Line, which owns and operates the Coho.
“We decided to bring him back so he could be attended to,” Anderson said.
The ferry docked in Port Angeles at about 9:20 a.m.
A Port Angeles Fire Department ambulance and fire engine were waiting, fire department Captain James Mason said.
Anderson said the ferry likely would have continued to Victoria if the emergency had happened five to 10 minutes later.
The Coho returned to Port Angeles because it was closer.
Anderson said no similar emergencies had happened on the ferry this year.
He said the last such emergency was about a year and a half ago when a passenger was revived by crew on the ferry, which was on its way back from Victoria to Port Angeles.
“That’s the last one I know of,” Anderson said.
Though a handful medical emergencies, most handled by ferry crews onboard, happen every year, Anderson said he could not remember a time when the Coho was turned around mid-sail for one.
“I’d be surprised if it hadn’t happened before, but in 20 years I can’t remember a time when they had to turn around,” Anderson said.
Reporter Jeremy Schwartz can be reached at 360-452-2345, ext. 5074, or at jschwartz@peninsuladailynews.com.
