Sam Amico
Dylan Gartenmayer, 22, was diving off the coast of Florida when a string current swept him away. It was feared he may never be seen again.
Videos by Rare
His family headed out to his grandfather’s boat, where he was last seen. His friends called the US Coast Guard. But there was no sign of Gartenmayer.
As the search was underway, he drifted further from the coast. Things looked grim.
Still, somehow, he managed to survive just long enough to be found. While the rescue mission was going on, Gartenmayer was clinging to a piece of bamboo, hoping to stay afloat. At times, he had to hold his breath underwater for up to two minutes.
Four long hours later, a family member spotted him, clinging to a buoy. randomly floating in the water. His cousin, Priscilla Gartenmayer, recorded the rescue.
A True Miracle!
Gartenmayer revealed that he had cut three buoys and made them into a sort of makeshift raft to stay afloat.
‘I got to a point where the boat had disappeared. From that point on I realized that things were starting to get serious,’ he told NBC6. “I ended up cutting three of those (buoys) from reef, tying up a little hammock.”
Obviously, his mother couldn’t have been happier to find him.
“It’s a miracle we landed right on my son in a needle in a haystack,” said Tabitha Gatrenmayer. “You’re in the middle of the ocean, and that’s god.”
