By Della Hasselle and Heather Grossmann
DNAinfo Reporter/Producer
CHELSEA — A construction diver doing work at Chelsea Piers nearly died Thursday night after his air source was cut off and he was pulled blue and unconscious from the Hudson River, witnesses and police said.
The crew of commercial divers had been working underwater all day on a restoration project at Pier 59 on the Hudson River at West 18th Street.
As the day ended and the divers were reeled back to the barge they were working from, fellow workers saw that one of the divers was in distress. Police said his oxygen line had become entangled in the pier while was he was working.
The diver, identified only as "Earl" by a witness, was frantically waving his hands as he was pulled in along the 250-foot tubing that connects the divers to the barge and supplies them air, a witness said. Earl, who police said was 35, had taken off the mask that supplied him oxygen, presumably because he was not able to get air through it, the witness said.
One of the workers from Ricon, the company which hired the men for the Pier 59 construction work, pulled him out of the water, unconscious, about 5:45 p.m. and put him on a floating pier next to the barge.
Michael Scalenga, 33, who is also a diver on the project, said he jumped on the float and began administering CPR.
"He was blue," Scalenga said, still shaking from the shock. "I was looking at him...[imagining] his family. I was not going to let him die under me, no way...There was no doubt in my mind that he was going to live, I know he has a kid and a wife."
Police said that attempts by his fellow workers to revive the man were unsuccessful, but that emergency crews responding to the scene around 5:45 p.m. were able to resuscitate him. He was incoherent at first, but was brought to Bellevue in stable condition, police said.
The emergency service unit that responded to the scene gathered at the 13th precinct late Thursday evening to recap the events.
"There's a sense of satisfaction," Lt. Larry Serras said about helping to save someone's life.
Scalenga said that when the diver resumed consciousness he began gasping for air, saying, "help me breathe."
"I was scared, emotional. I know him. We're a tight knit family here," Scalenga said.
Jefferson Siegel contributed reporting.
