Nevin Sayre, the Island’s own world-renowned windsurfer, is alive today because of the heroic response of a fellow kitesurfer after a harrowing accident near Big Bridge on Sengekontacket Pond on Friday.
Recently inducted into the Windsurfing Hall of Fame, Sayer, 64, was midflight on his kiteboard at some 20 feet in the air when a sudden shift in wind direction sent him crashing headfirst into the water, leaving him unconscious, face down, and taking in water.
If it were not for Robert Harding — who goes by Bear, and is the first mate of the sailboat Juno in Vineyard Haven Harbor — Sayre very likely would have died, according to first responders, witnesses, and Sayre himself.
“In the absolute moment of truth and the ultimate test, you never know how you will respond,” Sayre told The Times. “Bear was the absolute perfect person in the perfect place at the perfect time, with the best training and fitness and wherewithal to save my life. Bear faced the ultimate test, and passed with absolute brilliance.
“I am forever in gratitude to Bear,” Sayre said.
If you ask Harding, he isn’t a hero, but someone who is trained in lifesaving skills and was in the right place at the right time. “Anyone would have done the same,” he said. “Part of being a member of the community as a waterman, you have to be willing to support each other.”
Bear and Sayre are bound together by the tight-knit community of the Vineyard’s waterfront and water-sport community, but the life-saving experience has brought the two closer together.
The incident, for both rescuer and survivor, highlights the need for the right equipment to be readily available on Island waterfronts and beaches, especially a long surfboard that could help reach someone in distress. On an Island with such a vibrant community of athletes, fishermen, and boaters on the water, they say, it’s essential.
They hope telling the story will remind others about the importance of knowing CPR and other lifesaving skills, as well as general boating safety, because disaster can strike anytime, and when least expected.
The Times gathered what happened on Friday at Sengekontacket through firsthand accounts and from emergency officials.
The call came in on Friday around noon. It was a beautiful day, near 70° with strong Northeast winds — good conditions for Sengekontacket Pond. With the right conditions, the wind keeps the water flat and smooth, and kitesurfers can fly right along the shorefront, sometimes allowing them to jump directly over spectators below.
Those were the conditions on Friday, and Sayre, Bear, and one other kitesurfer were on the water. Sayre said that he was feeling a little off his game. His back had been bothering him, and he had recently been spending more time with a different watersport called wing foiling, a less dangerous version of kitesurfing.
Sayre believes he was about 30 yards from shore and near Big Bridge when it happened. In what was likely a combination of bad timing with a shift in the wind and an error on his end, Sayre jumped into the air — some 20 feet, if not higher — when his kite suddenly shifted, the wind pulling him headfirst into the water with extreme force.
“My memory stopped midair and I remember thinking, ‘This is not good,’” Sayre said.
Sayre lay face first in the water after the impact, for how long it’s hard to know. Bear, from what he estimates was about 100 yards away, jumped into action. “I saw the impact,” he told The Times. “I knew it was bad.”
Bear navigated his board toward Sayre, and arrived within what he believes was 30 seconds. When he first got there, he turned Sayre on his back and saw that he was unconscious. “He was gray and turning blue when I got to him,” Bear said. “I went to give him air, but it seemed like nothing was happening at first.”
Bear ejected the kitesurfing equipment from both of them, and grabbed Sayre in a “bear hug.” He started speaking to him, and reassuring him that everything would be OK. By then, because of the tide and wind, the two had drifted 150 to 200 yards from shore.
Bear, drawing on his training in first aid, began giving Sayre chest compressions. At the same time, he held Sayre and swam toward shore using his legs. Complicating the rescue attempt, Sayre wasn’t buoyant, because he had taken in so much water; Bear had to work to keep his chin above water. He also continued to talk with Sayre, to reassure him, a tactic that can help keep victims alive.
As he was bringing him to shore over a number of minutes, Sayre started exhaling from his nose, seemingly responding to Bear’s efforts; and his color started to return.
When they were about 20 or 30 yards from shore, a bystander named Quinn Keefe swam out to meet them to offer assistance. Scott DiBiazo, the captain of Juno, witnessed the impact and was the first to call emergency responders. He grabbed a foam board and raced out to meet Bear and Sayre as they were coming closer to shore.
By the time they reached land, emergency responders from both Edgartown and Oak Bluffs were there to meet them.
Sayre remembers coming into consciousness as he was jostled into the back of an ambulance. He remembers people on the beach shouting and coaxing him on, cheering for him to keep breathing.
From Martha’s Vineyard Hospital, he was flown immediately to Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston, and admitted to the Intensive Care Unit. He remembers being incredibly cold on the flight, with his wetsuit removed by responders.
“In the absolute moment of truth and the ultimate test, you never know how you will respond. Bear was the absolute perfect person in the perfect place at the perfect time, with the best training and fitness and wherewithal to save my life. Bear faced the ultimate test, and passed with absolute brilliance.
Miraculously — a testament to Sayre’s fortitude, and to the amazement of the medical staff — Sayre hadn’t suffered any broken bones or brain damage. He remembers the nurse telling him, “‘We don’t know how, but you have no broken bones, and no evidence of a concussion.’ No brain damage. Nothing.”
He did have a significant amount of water in his lungs, and there was a concern that he might get an infection from all the water, but he dodged that bullet as well. Sayre said that he’s lucky the tide was coming into the pond, bringing saltwater; otherwise, freshwater with an outgoing tide — mixed with wastewater from nearby septic systems — and he might be telling a different story.
On Saturday, Sayre said he woke up with a headache, but he otherwise felt fine — so much so that it was recommended that he move out of the ICU. But there were no beds available in the rest of the hospital, so he stayed another night.
On Sunday morning, he was ready to leave. Sayre chokes up when he retells how the nurses and doctors were amazed to see him leave straight from the ICU. Most patients, they told him, either get moved from the ICU and stay for weeks or months in the hospital, or worse.
“I am so, so incredibly fortunate. The nurses at the Intensive Care Unit at Brigham and Women’s told me they had never seen anyone walk out of the ICU under their own power,” Sayre said. He said he is grateful for their help.
One of the first things Sayre did when he got back to the Island was meet with Bear on Monday night. The two talked through what happened for hours, going over and over what happened. They had been friends and acquaintances on the water beforehand, but their relationship took on new meaning after the rescue. “I’m so impressed with this guy,” Sayre said.
In the end, Sayre is hopeful that the story won’t discourage others from the sport. He has been windsurfing and kiteboarding for decades, and has gotten to a level where he can take risks. He has been shifting toward wing foiling recently, which he considers a safer and more accessible sport, and expects to be on the water soon (if he hasn’t been already, after our deadline).
“I have no reservations about going out, even for an instant,” he said. “I love doing this; it would kill me not to do it.”
Ultimately, he’s committed to making things safer for himself and everyone else who enjoys the water on the Vineyard.
“From this experience, I know I am going to renew my CPR, first aid, and further water safety training,” Sayre said. “I also want to dedicate myself to making sure there is a lifeguard rescue surfboard 24/7 at the Big Bridge, and hopefully, other prominent spots. A floaty rescue board would have made a big difference.”
Charles Sennott contributed to this report.
