Man rescued from water behind Sammy's BBQ restaurant has severe hypothermia

On 04-10-2014, at approximately 3:50 a.m. the Humboldt County Sheriff’s Office received a 911 call from a King Salmon resident who resides near Buhne Drive and King Salmon Drive. The resident said he was hearing a man calling, “Help”. The resident was unsure where the sound was coming from. Deputies were dispatched to the King Salmon area to search for the source of the man calling for
 help.  When they arrived in the area the deputies could hear the call, “Help”, coming from behind Sammy’s BBQ restaurant. The deputies climbed over a chain link fence and then onto a dock near a boat called “Lola”.  There they saw a man in the water between the boat and the dock, hanging onto a buoy rope.  The man was barely able to hold onto the rope and keep his head above water. Deputies were able to locate a rope on the dock and wrap the rope around the man’ s chest and elevate him above the water line while waiting for Humboldt Bay Fire to respond, along with an ambulance. Once fire personnel were on scene, they were able to pull the man from the water. The man identified himself as 71 year old Ted Cooper from King Salmon.  Cooper told the deputies he had been in the water for approximately 45 minutes. Cooper had several cuts and scrapes on his arms and legs. Cooper was transported to the hospital where he was treated and admitted.

The EMS personnel told the deputies Cooper had severe hypothermia and would not have lasted much longer in the water.   It is unknown how Cooper ended up in the water.