PEORIA A Hanna City man was rescued from the Illinois River on Tuesday after an Asian carp knocked him from his personal watercraft.
This is the first carp-related rescue that Ive heard of, said Det. Mike Sanders of the Pekin Police Department. You always hear stories about people getting hit by Asian carp, but I cant think of any rescues.
Tad Newell, 22, of Hanna City was riding his new personal watercraft in the Illinois River just before 1:30 p.m., about a half-mile south of the foot of Court Street, when he apparently ran into the large, leaping fish. The fish knocked him from the machine.
Newell had a cell phone with him and summoned help when the watercraft began sinking.
I think it was the first time he had been out, and the people initially on the scene said he had an incident with an Asian carp, Sanders said. He lost control of the Jet Ski and it started taking on water. He wasnt able to get it started, so he called for help.
Pekin firefighters arrived by 1:33 p.m., and within 25 minutes had the personal watercraft towed back to the dock and Newell returned to shore safely.
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