He said the boat had disappeared, and he realized"that things were starting to get serious."
Already starting to shiver and lucky enough to have found a piece of bamboo he used to float on, Gartenmayer decided to"make a swim for it" to the nearest reef over a mile away."I knew that the further and further I got out, the less of a chance I'd be found, and it was taking me out deeper and deeper," he said.
Eventually, he cut off three floating mooring balls used by snorkelers and created a raft to"conserve body heat" with numb hands and toes. As the sun dropped, he said things were getting"more dire" as a reef shark swam by him and noticed increased activity among the animals. "By some miracle," Gartenmayer said,"my parents and everybody else on board my grandfather's boat had ended up driving and basically landing right on top of me." Gartenmayer credited his friend, Joel Cruz, with spotting him off in the distance, hanging onto the floating balls. Gartenmayer waved his spear to catch their attention.
"Imagine feeling hopeless, and then there is everyone who has ever loved you coming to your rescue," one viewerIn his Instagram stories, Gartenmayer said the accident"happened in an instant" and expressed"no blame" for the companions he became separated from him as well as gratitude for the Coast Guard. He did not immediately respond to Insider's request for comment.
United States United States Latest News, United States United States Headlines
Similar News:You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.
Source: BISouthAfrica - 🏆 34. / 51 Read more »
Source: BISouthAfrica - 🏆 34. / 51 Read more »
Source: BISouthAfrica - 🏆 34. / 51 Read more »
Source: BISouthAfrica - 🏆 34. / 51 Read more »
Source: BISouthAfrica - 🏆 34. / 51 Read more »
Source: BISouthAfrica - 🏆 34. / 51 Read more »