300-pound stingray attacks man off NY coast, leading to daring Coast Guard air rescue

A boat crewman was jabbed by a 300-pound stingray off the New York coast, forcing the U.S. Coast Guard to launch a daring helicopter rescue in the dark late Sunday.

It happened about 40 miles southwest of Montauk, according to a news release.

The man was working aboard the Shelby Ann, a commercial fishing boat, when he “was struck by a stingray barb below the knee” and began going into shock, officials said.

He was identified as James McKenna by station WJAR, which reported the Rhode Island resident was hauling in a fishing net when it happened.

Coast Guard officials sent an MH-60 Jayhawk to the scene and video shows McKenna was strapped in a gurney and precariously hoisted with cables off the deck to the helicopter above. The operation was describe as “challenging,” officials said.

“He was screaming and he was in a lot of pain up until the time that we had him in the aircraft, so he was very grateful when we offloaded him,” Lt. Junior Andrew Doyle told WJAR in a recorded interview.

McKenna was taken to Rhode Island Hospital in Providence, and listed in stable condition, officials said.

The Shelby Ann sails out of Point Judith, Rhode Island, the Coast Guard reported.

Rescuers didn’t describe the type of stingray involved in the incident, or what became of it. Some species such as roughtail stingrays can reach “7 feet across and 14 feet long,” according to the New Jersey Division of Fish and Wildlife. Roughtails have “three barbs” on their tail that are “poisonous,” but human deaths are uncommon, the division says.

“The stingray’s spine, or barb, can be ominously fashioned with serrated edges and a sharp point,” National Geographic reports.

“The underside may produce venom, which can be fatal to humans, and which can remain deadly even after the stingray’s death.”

This story was originally published September 23, 2021 at 11:55 AM with the headline "300-pound stingray attacks man off NY coast, leading to daring Coast Guard air rescue."