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Sick sailor flown to Charlotte

A search and rescue team from CFB Comox airlifted a seriously ill sailor from his ship to Queen Charlotte hospital Tuesday afternoon.
The Rescue Coordination Centre in Victoria received word Monday that a 600-ft. Spanish container ship, heading from Korea to Vancouver needed help. RCC asked the vessel's captain to turn to the nearest land-in this case the Queen Charlottes/Haida Gwaii. RCC then dispatched a Cormorant helicopter and a Buffalo aircraft.
The chopper stopped in Sandspit to fuel up, then just after noon, flew to a rendezvous with the ship, 200-miles off the coast.
Rescuers lifted the 39-year old sailor, suffering heart problems, into the helicopter and took him to the Queen Charlotte hospital.
The Cormorant was first used for search and rescue on the west coast last August. Five are stationed at CFB Comox, replacing the older Labradors, long familiar on the coast.