JOHN ZUZICK
HARWICH HERO
HARWICH — (6/25/10) A good ship captain protects his crew members at all costs. John Zuzick of the clam dredge Silver Fox died yesterday saving a fellow fisherman's life during an early-morning rescue attempt two miles east of Sankaty Head Light on Nantucket, according to family members and the Coast Guard.
When the male crew member fell overboard, Zuzick, 53, of Harwich attempted to turn the boat around but was stymied when a hose was fouled in the boat's propellers. As the boat drifted away from the drowning man, Zuzick quickly donned survival gear and went in after him. The water temperature was 55 degrees with seas less than 1 foot high. But shortly after Zuzick reached the stricken crew member and began helping him swim back to the boat, he suffered an apparent heart attack, according to Zuzick's wife, Velna, and son, Patrick, who received a first-hand account yesterday afternoon from the crew member who fell overboard. "He said my dad told him everything would be OK, and that he just had to take a break for a minute," said Patrick Zuzick, 24. "And then he lost consciousness."
The crew member in the water was able to cling to Zuzick's body until a Coast Guard helicopter arrived more than 30 minutes later and hoisted the two men aboard. The man who fell overboard was treated and released from Nantucket Cottage Hospital, according to the Zuzick family.
A 47-foot motor lifeboat from Station Brant Point on Nantucket was also dispatched to assist the disabled boat and the vessel's third crew member, while the Mandy Lynn towed the Silver Fox back to New Bedford for repairs. The Silver Fox is owned by New Jersey-based Atlantic Capes Fisheries.
The crew member Zuzick tried to rescue, whom Coast Guard officials and Zuzick family members declined to identify, came face to face with the Zuzick family yesterday. He was "broken up," apologetic and thankful to Zuzick for coming to his rescue. "He just kept saying, 'he saved my life, he saved my life,'" Velna Zuzick said. "My husband would've jumped off that boat to save anybody because he was just that kind of guy."
Patrick Zuzick agreed with his mother, and said he told the grateful crew member to live a good life in memory of his father. Last night, Zuzick's loved ones sat around the kitchen of the family's Harwich home looking at hundreds of pictures, and recalling a selfless man who wanted nothing more than to provide for his family. Velna Zuzick, a music teacher at St. Francis Xavier Preparatory School in Hyannis, picked up item after item of oddities brought home by her husband after fishing trips.
Blue conchs, which she said can only be found in the waters off Nantucket, rested above a window and glass bowls and bottles lined the kitchen shelves.
Zuzick's treasured Harley-Davidson motorcycle sat silently in the driveway, while family members pored over photos of birthday parties and boating adventures. "How do you condense a whole life?" Velna Zuzick said.
Patrick Zuzick said his father will be remembered as a hard worker who lived, and died, a hero. "He's a good man," Patrick Zuzick said. "I'm proud of him and I'm proud of what he did."