The Coast Guard rescued husband and wife divers Nathan and Kim Maker on Friday after they had been adrift off the coast of Texas for 36 hours.
two Said Good Morning America (GMA) was on a road trip in the Gulf of Mexico on Wednesday when one member of the group “lost his grip on his downline.” (Related: Daring Baltic Sea dive uncovers 19th century champagne and wine hidden in shipwreck)
An experienced husband and wife diver were stranded at sea off the coast of Texas for nearly 40 hours. translation: About the US Coast Guard rescue.
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— ABC News (@ABC) July 29, 2024
According to the media, Nathan jumped in after her and managed to tether the rest of the group safely to the line.
“I was swimming as hard as I could to get her back on the line,” Nathan told the outlet, “and I got her over to the line and within reach,” but the current then swept him and his wife away, he added.
“The boat got smaller and smaller until it was completely out of sight,” Nathan told the outlet. He and his wife “took what we had and pieced ourselves together” to improve their chances of survival. They initially tried to swim to the oil rig, according to GMA.
The Coast Guard received a report on Wednesday afternoon that the missing couple was “last seen surfacing in poor weather.” according to According to a press release from the Department of Homeland Security, the Coast Guard has deployed air and sea resources to search for the couple.
Kim told GMA that the couple “had to keep swimming” to avoid freezing to death in the cold water. “He [Nathan] “The only reason we're surviving is because we keep on keeping our spirits up, because it would have been really easy to give up,” she said.
After more than a day at sea, Nathan heard and saw a rescue plane, the outlet reported. “When the plane turned towards us, Kim sent out an SOS. [flashlight]”They saw us,” Nathan told the outlet, with a Coast Guard press release confirming that it was “a flashing light in the water” that alerted rescuers to the couple's location.
“Out of the corner of my eye, I saw a speedboat coming in and all of a sudden I heard the voices of the Coast Guard,” Kim told GMA. “I truly believe we saw the hand of God that day, and it was the hand of the Coast Guard,” Nathan added.
The Coast Guard said in a press release that they had searched for the couple for 36 hours, and rescuers handed out clothes and sweatshirts to help the couple stay warm, GMA reported.
