WELL-KNOWN Jamaican sporting personality, Leighton “Dickie” Coke, died of an apparent heart attack yesterday after a boat, in which he was a passenger, sank off Lime Cay in the Kingston Harbour while taking people on a holiday outing.

Police said last night that a dozen other persons who were aboard the Pieces of Eight, including Coke’s poet wife, Frances Coke, were rescued by passing fishermen and the Jamaica Defence Force Coast Guard.

The Pieces of Eight, was said to beowned by the Morgan’s Harbour Hotel in Port Royal and ran regular charters between the hotel and nearby Lime Cay.

Constable Oliver Livingston of the Port Royal police said that the accident happened at about 2:30 pm and boaters said that the 22-foot Pieces of Eight appeared to have capsized in strong winds between Rokkam and Gun caves, about 600 feet from Lime Cay.

According to Livingston all the passengers were wearing life jackets at the time.

Eyewitnesses said that they were helped from the sea by fishermen and JDF Coast Guard sailors — nine, including Coke, 60, being placed in a second Morgan’s Harbour hotel vessel that was in the vicinity at the time. The remaining four passengers were put aboard the Lime Cay 2, a 32-foot boat belonging to Y-Knot, a Port Royal bar and grill that also organises charters to Lime Cay. The Lime Cay 2 had raced to the scene to help in the rescue.

Coke appeared to have been safely in the rescue boat when it was noticed that he was not breathing.

“A member of the JDF Coast Guard performed cardiopulmonary resuscitation on Coke but his body was not responding to it,” Constable Livingston told the Observer. He said Coke died on his way to the Kingston Public Hospital.

Last night, Dale Matheson, co-captain of the Port Royal 2, told the Observer that he received a call from his boss, who was “running a trip” to Lime Cay at the time of the accident, to go and help.

“He (Matheson’s boss) was out in the water and he saw first-hand what was taking place, so he called via radio for help,” Matheson said. “I did not hesitate.”

According to Matheson he reached the area in about five minutes. Only the bow of the Pieces of Eight remained above water. He saw four persons, including Coke’s wife, in the sea.

“All four were female and we helped them on to our boat,” Matheson said.

Most of the other victims of the accident were already in the other rescue vessel, but the heavy-set Coke was still climbing aboard.

“I saw him climbing onto the second boat belonging to Morgan’s Harbour, and to me he just seemed as if he was tired,” Matheson explained. “But when his wife started screaming that he ‘had a bad heart’ we realised that he had other problems.”

The sea was choppy.

“The winds out there were very strong and it blew the boat in the eastern channel of the waters where the big cargo ships travel through,” Matheson said.

Matheson displayed bruises on his legs and arms, apparently sustained during the rescue effort.

Coke, a larger-than-life, jovial personality, was at the height of his popularity in the late 1970s through the 1980s when he was community relations officer for Desnoes & Geddes, and heavily involved in the company’s sponsorship of sports and other community outreach programmes. He also appeared in D&G’s advertisements for Red Stripe beer. Coke had himself played football and volleyball for Jamaica.

At the time of his death he was employed as sports co-ordinator at the Sugar Producers Federation.

Coke is survived by his wife and daughter, Kimberly.