Kiteboarder Found Unresponsive In Nantucket Harbor Emerges From Coma At Boston Hospital

Farrah Nunuzov, the kiteboarder who was found unresponsive in Nantucket Harbor last Monday, has emerged from a coma at Mass General in Boston, according to his friend Sunnatilla Arifdjanov.

Nunuzov, a 48-year-old carpenter, was rescued from the water by the Nantucket Moorings crew and off-duty firefighter Ray DeCosta. He was rushed to Nantucket Cottage Hospital and transported by MedFlight helicopter to Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston.

Arifdjanov told the Current on Friday that Nunuzov is still not talking because he remains on a ventilator, but was awake and able to respond to the physicians caring for him. He had surgery due to broken ribs and seawater ingested into his lungs. There was also a three-inch laceration on the back of his head that was stitched up by the medical team on Nantucket before he was Medflighted off.

"He opened his eyes, so he is awake, but he's still connected to the machine," Arifdjanov said. "A doctor asked him to squeeze his hand, he kind of tried to squeeze it, but nothing else."

Arifdjanov said Nunuzov had been kiteboarding for about a year, and for some unknown reason, decided to go out by himself on the day of the accident. How he became unconscious in the harbor remains a mystery at this point.

"He's a sportsman, you know?" Arifdjanov said. "He's not drinking, not smoking. He has a black belt in taekwondo. He's healthy for his age, very healthy. So he's been doing the kiteboarding and was experienced for about a year. But just this time he went by himself, I don't know why." 

Nunuzov, a father to two young children, is originally from Uzbekistan and has lived on Nantucket for more than 20 years.

The people who discovered the man in the water were Carl Bendiksen, Ethan McMorrow, and off-duty firefighter Ray DeCosta, according to fire chief Michael Cranson. Nantucket Moorings' Tim Reinemo and Lloyd Brown arrived at the dock on a second boat to assist them. The group immediately provided CPR to the man while awaiting first responders.

The incident prompted a large public safety response to the town pier, including Nantucket Police, Nantucket Fire Department EMTs, the Harbormaster, and Massachusetts Environmental Police.

“We received a report of an unresponsive male who had been pulled from the water in the area of the Town Pier,” Fire Chief Michael Cranson told the Current. “(The) Person was picked up by a crew on a boat who saw him in the water. The crew called 911 and immediately started CPR. Fire Department personnel, police officers and the harbormaster staff all arrived at the dock and assisted with transferring the patient over to the fire department. The patient was transported to Nantucket Cottage Hospital and their condition is not known at this time.”

Nunuzov's friends have launched a GoFundMe page to help support his family during the ordeal.