Marco cop recovering after crashing watercraft into mangroves
By LIAM DILLON (Contact), RYAN MILLS (Contact)
Cpl. Kevin Hennings
2 injured in wave runner accident near Keewaydin
MARCO ISLAND — A veteran Marco Island police officer is recovering after a personal watercraft crash early Sunday evening left him and a female passenger floating in the water for as long as an hour before help arrived.
Cpl. Kevin Hennings, 35, a Marco officer since 2000, was plucked from the waters east of Keewaydin Island around 6:35 p.m. Sunday and flown to Lee Memorial Hospital in critical condition. He remained in intensive care Monday, hospital staff confirmed.
Hennings’ 23-year-old passenger, Jennifer Rousseau of Marco Island, was also pulled from the water and taken to NCH Downtown Naples Hospital in stable condition.
Marco City Councilman Rob Popoff, who is friends with Hennings, visited him in the hospital Monday.
He said Hennings had a broken jaw, nose and left arm, his jaw was wired shut and he had scrapes, cuts and bruises everywhere. But Popoff said Hennings’ prognosis was good.
“He will be OK,” Popoff said. “It’s going to be a very uncomfortable recovery, but he’ll be fine. He’s a pit bull.”
Popoff said Hennings was conscious and asked him about Rousseau.
“It was typical selfless Kevin,” Popoff said. “He’s worried about everyone else.”
Details about the crash remained murky Monday, as investigators from the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission hadn’t yet been able to interview either Hennings or Rousseau, department spokeswoman Gabriella Ferraro said.
Ferraro said FWC officers received the initial call about the crash at 6:31 p.m., and were on scene by 6:35 p.m. When officers arrived to the crash site near Cannon Island they found Marco Island resident Jason Berning in the water with Hennings and Rousseau holding them on their backs.
“Their Jet Ski was in the mangroves,” Ferraro said.
Hennings had injuries to his face. Both Hennings and Rousseau were wearing life jackets, Ferraro said.
Berning didn’t witness the crash, Ferraro said, but arrived on scene to help and called 911. Ferraro described Berning’s actions as heroic. Attempts to reach Berning for comment Monday were unsuccessful.
“I think what he did was stabilize the victims,” Ferraro said. “At least he provided them comfort that there was a human presence.”
Ferraro said that both Hennings and Rousseau were conscious when officers arrived. She said it was unclear how much time had passed between the crash and the time officers got the call, but said they “may have been in the water as long as an hour.”
Boats from the Marco Island and Isles of Capri fire departments responded to the crash site and took Hennings and Rousseau back to the Isles of Capri Fire Department, where they were then taken to the respective hospitals.
Isles of Capri Fire Chief Emilio Rodriguez, who helped load Hennings and Rousseau into the ambulances, said he knows Hennings.
“It’s different when you know somebody,” Rodriguez said. “With a regular person, you do your job, you give it 110 percent, and they go on their way to the hospital and that’s usually the last we hear about it. When it’s somebody you know, you tend to want to know more information even after you’ve rendered them care.”
When reached in her hospital room Monday afternoon, Rousseau said she wasn’t feeling well, and wanted to hear from Hennings, who she described as a good friend, and an “outgoing, energetic person.”
Rousseau said Hennings was driving the personal watercraft, but said she doesn’t remember the crash. When asked if she and Hennings had been drinking, Rousseau said “a little bit, but not excessive.”
In May, Hennings was the recipient of the Phoenix award, an honor bestowed by the Collier County Commission to emergency workers who successfully restore heartbeats and bring people back to life after sudden cardiac events. He is one of four corporals at the Marco Island Police Department, which has 34 sworn officers.
Hennings was also one of the 220 people who applied for the then-vacant Marco Island police chief position in June.
“In a small agency, we’re very, very, very close,” Marco Police Capt. Dave Baer said. “When something like this happens to one of our associates or fellow officers, we feel it more acutely than you might feel in a New York City Police Department where you have 30,000 cops.
“We hope for his quick healing and return to the agency.”
By LIAM DILLON (Contact), RYAN MILLS (Contact)
Cpl. Kevin Hennings
2 injured in wave runner accident near Keewaydin
MARCO ISLAND — A veteran Marco Island police officer is recovering after a personal watercraft crash early Sunday evening left him and a female passenger floating in the water for as long as an hour before help arrived.
Cpl. Kevin Hennings, 35, a Marco officer since 2000, was plucked from the waters east of Keewaydin Island around 6:35 p.m. Sunday and flown to Lee Memorial Hospital in critical condition. He remained in intensive care Monday, hospital staff confirmed.
Hennings’ 23-year-old passenger, Jennifer Rousseau of Marco Island, was also pulled from the water and taken to NCH Downtown Naples Hospital in stable condition.
Marco City Councilman Rob Popoff, who is friends with Hennings, visited him in the hospital Monday.
He said Hennings had a broken jaw, nose and left arm, his jaw was wired shut and he had scrapes, cuts and bruises everywhere. But Popoff said Hennings’ prognosis was good.
“He will be OK,” Popoff said. “It’s going to be a very uncomfortable recovery, but he’ll be fine. He’s a pit bull.”
Popoff said Hennings was conscious and asked him about Rousseau.
“It was typical selfless Kevin,” Popoff said. “He’s worried about everyone else.”
Details about the crash remained murky Monday, as investigators from the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission hadn’t yet been able to interview either Hennings or Rousseau, department spokeswoman Gabriella Ferraro said.
Ferraro said FWC officers received the initial call about the crash at 6:31 p.m., and were on scene by 6:35 p.m. When officers arrived to the crash site near Cannon Island they found Marco Island resident Jason Berning in the water with Hennings and Rousseau holding them on their backs.
“Their Jet Ski was in the mangroves,” Ferraro said.
Hennings had injuries to his face. Both Hennings and Rousseau were wearing life jackets, Ferraro said.
Berning didn’t witness the crash, Ferraro said, but arrived on scene to help and called 911. Ferraro described Berning’s actions as heroic. Attempts to reach Berning for comment Monday were unsuccessful.
“I think what he did was stabilize the victims,” Ferraro said. “At least he provided them comfort that there was a human presence.”
Ferraro said that both Hennings and Rousseau were conscious when officers arrived. She said it was unclear how much time had passed between the crash and the time officers got the call, but said they “may have been in the water as long as an hour.”
Boats from the Marco Island and Isles of Capri fire departments responded to the crash site and took Hennings and Rousseau back to the Isles of Capri Fire Department, where they were then taken to the respective hospitals.
Isles of Capri Fire Chief Emilio Rodriguez, who helped load Hennings and Rousseau into the ambulances, said he knows Hennings.
“It’s different when you know somebody,” Rodriguez said. “With a regular person, you do your job, you give it 110 percent, and they go on their way to the hospital and that’s usually the last we hear about it. When it’s somebody you know, you tend to want to know more information even after you’ve rendered them care.”
When reached in her hospital room Monday afternoon, Rousseau said she wasn’t feeling well, and wanted to hear from Hennings, who she described as a good friend, and an “outgoing, energetic person.”
Rousseau said Hennings was driving the personal watercraft, but said she doesn’t remember the crash. When asked if she and Hennings had been drinking, Rousseau said “a little bit, but not excessive.”
In May, Hennings was the recipient of the Phoenix award, an honor bestowed by the Collier County Commission to emergency workers who successfully restore heartbeats and bring people back to life after sudden cardiac events. He is one of four corporals at the Marco Island Police Department, which has 34 sworn officers.
Hennings was also one of the 220 people who applied for the then-vacant Marco Island police chief position in June.
“In a small agency, we’re very, very, very close,” Marco Police Capt. Dave Baer said. “When something like this happens to one of our associates or fellow officers, we feel it more acutely than you might feel in a New York City Police Department where you have 30,000 cops.
“We hope for his quick healing and return to the agency.”
