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Rescuer Recounts Pulling Former Beaufort Mayor from Water

Former Mayor Billy Keyserling and his brother were sailing on the Beaufort River in South Carolina when the boat they were on capsized in heavy wind, a representative for the family told a reporter on Sunday.

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(TNS) - This story will be updated as more information becomes available.

For Lexie Murray Benton, a registered nurse in Colleton County, Saturday was meant to be spent celebrating a friend’s birthday. Instead, the group of boaters ended up pulling two men, identified later as former Beaufort Mayor Billy Keyserling and his brother Paul, from the water.

“When we got into Beaufort we came across a sailboat fixing to sink,” Benton wrote in a public post on Facebook. “We all stopped to try to help the two men and get them into our boat. The current was really strong and it was tough trying to get close to them.”

The Keyserlings were sailing on the Beaufort River when the boat they were on capsized in heavy wind, a representative for the family told an Island Packet and Beaufort Gazette reporter on Sunday.

Paul Keyserling, the representative said, was uninjured while his brother, Billy, “took in a lot of water” while trying to right the boat.

Billy Keyserling was severely injured but was “recovering well” as of Sunday, according to City of Beaufort/Town of Port Royal Fire Department Chief Ross Vezin and Mayor Stephen Murray.

“He’s responsive and aware of what’s going on,” the family’s representative said.

The boat capsized between the dock at Beaufort Memorial Hospital and the Beaufort Yacht Club, Vezin said. The S.C. Department of Natural Resources is investigating the incident, according to spokesperson Greg Lucas.

While out on the water, things at first appeared to be “under control as both men were holding onto the boat and did not appear to be in any distress,” Benton wrote in her post. Billy Keyserling went under the water to cut the sails and “went unresponsive” soon after, she wrote.

“Our guys quickly jumped into the water without even thinking to try to save him and keep his head above water until we could get him onto the boat,” Benton wrote. “They fought the current and managed to still hold the man above water for what seemed like forever until we could get someone with a lower boat to get close enough to them.”

Once the group was able to flag down another boat, Benton, a former registered nurse at Beaufort Memorial Hospital, began performing CPR on Billy Keyserling who, according to her, did not have a pulse. A group of emergency responders and firefighters from the City of Beaufort/Town of Port Royal Fire Department were waiting on the dock at Beaufort Memorial Hospital and, by that time, Billy Keyserling had a pulse again, she said.

“We are all a little traumatized to say the least, but I’m so thankful our crew is safe,” Benton wrote in her post. “Y'all please be careful out in that rough water!”

©2022 The Island Packet (Hilton Head, S.C.), Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.

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