CNN's Chris Cuomo Helps Save Drowning Man

CNN New Day Anchor Chris Cuomo might have picked up a new viewer over the weekend.

Cuomo help rescue  a drowning man who had been swept away by a rip current while boating in the Hamptons.

Cuomo spotted the older man being carried out in the Peconic River near Shelter Island hot spot Sunset Beach on Sunday afternoon.

Cuomo, 45, who was at anchor on his fishing boat with his editor wife Cristina Cuomo and their children, saw the unnamed stricken man was in distress and threw him a life preserver before jumping in and swimming after him.

Frank Cilione, the managing partner of Philippe East Hampton who had moored up with Cuomo and his family, said, “Chris saved this man’s life. We saw him floating by in what looked like a very strong, fast current, and Chris began yelling at the man to swim out of it at an angle. But the man said he couldn’t move his arms, all his energy was spent, and he carried on floating away, his head barely above the water.

“Chris threw him a life preserver, but the man still didn’t start swimming, so Chris jumped in the water and went after him. It was happening too fast to untie the boat and start the engine. At this point, the man was 500 to 600 feet away from us, almost so far that you couldn’t see him, but Chris is a strong guy and swam up to him.”

Cilione continued, “Once he got to him, the man still couldn’t fight the current, so Chris then somehow managed to drag him back to shore, where they could stand in the water. If he hadn’t done this, the man would surely have drowned.”

Both were then picked up by a police boat flagged down by frantic fellow boaters who witnessed the scene. Cilione added, “The police didn’t seem to realize who Chris was, but told him, ‘You saved this guy. That was heroic.’ But he was very humble about it.”

H/T Page Six