Safety Orange Saves a Life

Vic Rotonda, sales representative, received an email in late September from Chris DeVillers, president of Northern Drill Service. He shared about a recent accident his brother, Curt DeVillers, was in and Geoprobe®'s unlikely role in his rescue. 

A week prior, Curt was fishing by himself off the coast of Newport, Rhode Island. A rogue wave hit his ship, threw Curt overboard, and ripped off the center console – taking the ship's controls and Curt's safety gear with it. To make matters worse, the wave’s impact pulled Curt out of his life vest. 

"After finally getting back to the surface, and ingesting quite a bit of sea water, he saw his boat partially-submerged 20 yards away and was able to swim back to it," Chris said. "At this point, he was exhausted and in cold waters. He had to shed his heavy clothing just so he could pull himself onto the boat."

But even without his safety gear, there was one thing Curt still had on him – literally. 

“Getting dressed at 4 a.m. that morning,” Chris said, “he picked out this safety orange Geoprobe^® t-shirt to wear. He took it off and tied the shirt to his gaff as a distress signal, hoping a passing mariner or someone on shore would see it. And after 90 minutes or so adrift, someone on shore saw the orange distress flag and called the coast guard for the rescue."

After a short hospital stay to treat hypothermia, Curt is now safe at home and recovering with his family.

"Handing out t-shirts as part of your marketing may seem frivolous," Chris wrote to Rotonda. "But in this case, you saved someone’s life! For that, he is forever thankful."