68-year-old volunteer dies after falling from mast of ship at San Diego’s Maritime Museum
By APSunday, July 18, 2010
Man dies after fall from mast of ship in San Diego
SAN DIEGO — Authorities say a volunteer at the Maritime Museum of San Diego has died after falling from the mast of a 19th century ship.
San Diego Fire-Rescue Battalion Chief John Fisher says 68-year-old Gregory Vance Gushaw hit his head on the iron-hulled ship the Star of India as he fell about 50 feet into the water Sunday.
Fisher says Gushaw was unconscious when other volunteers pulled him from the water and performed CPR. He was pronounced dead at a hospital.
The museum’s president and chief executive Ray Ashley says Gushaw was a former Naval officer and longtime volunteer at the museum.
The Star of India dates to 1863 and is billed as “the world’s oldest active ship” by the Maritime Museum, a collection of historic vessels on the San Diego Bay.
Information from: The San Diego Union-Tribune, www.signonsandiego.com
