Subscribe | UPI Odd Newsletter Subscribe WILDWOOD, Fla., Aug. 9 (UPI) -- A 23-year-old Wildwood, Fla., man on a personal watercraft nearly drowned after a jumping sturgeon knocked him unconscious and into the Suwannee River. State Fish and Wildlife investigators say Blake Fessenden was traveling north on the Suwannee River Sunday when a 4-foot sturgeon jumped out of the water and hit him. Advertisement Fessenden's girlfriend, who was riding a personal watercraft behind him, saw the incident and sped to his aid, WKMG-TV, Orlando, reported. She jumped into the water and held his head above water until passengers on another vessel pulled Fessenden from the water and took him to shore. Fessenden was airlifted to a hospital in Gainesville, Fla., and was expected to recover. Sturgeon usually live in the ocean, but periodically swim in major rivers. The Suwannee is a major river in southern Georgia and northern Florida.
