A 21-year-old free diver was miraculously rescued by his household after he was swept away by the Gulf Stream whereas diving greater than 5 miles from the Florida Keys.
Diver and spear fisherman Dylan Gartenmayer described the second he heard the hum of his grandfather’s boat as he hopelessly lay watching the solar set over shark-infested waters.
Hours earlier on Thursday afternoon, he had been with two pals as he descended for his remaining dive of the day across the West Sambo Reef.
Beneath the floor he was caught in a present that drew him 150 ft beneath the floor and spat him out round a mile away.
His pals notified each the US Coast Guard and his household, who started a determined search, racing in opposition to the setting solar.
21-year-old diver and spear fisherman Dylan Gartenmayer (proper) was rescued after being swept away by the Gulf Stream whereas free diving greater than 5 miles from the Florida Key. He’s pictured right here together with his mom, Tabitha (left)
After rising he swam round a mile again in the direction of the reef, the place he minimize free mooring buoys which he tied collectively to type a makeshift raft.
‘I used to be watching the solar drop fairly shortly,’ stated Gartenmayer in a video posted to social media.
Fishing bait began washing up round him, attracting the eye of sharks.
‘I’d simply seen a reef shark swam previous me,’ he stated. ‘I had a bunch of bait begin blowing up round, I may see mackerel skyrocketing.’
Because the temperature started to drop and a chill set in, the diver described how he used the buoys to maintain his physique as far out of the water as attainable.
‘I used to be beginning to shiver at that time and my arms had been beginning to really feel a bit of numb, so had been my toes, so I knew this was beginning to get severe,’ he stated.
A rescue mission involving coast guard boats and plane was underway, however they had been unable to identify him.
‘I had a small airplane fly above however they did not see me,’ he stated. ‘About half-hour later they flew again once more, nonetheless did not see me.’
‘Shortly after that the solar had disappeared previous the horizon. Seeking to the east it was pitch black, trying to the west you can see the remnants of the sundown. As I noticed the solar disappear I knew issues had been beginning to get a bit of extra dire,’ he stated.
Relations and the coast guard launched a search operation and he was found clinging to 2 buoys simply because the solar was setting
However then the beginner search social gathering led by his household struck gold. ‘By some miracle my mother and father and all people else on board my grandfather’s boat ended up driving and mainly touchdown proper on high of me,’ he stated.
‘I may hear the engines operating and I knew from there that was really my grandfather’s boat.’
Gartenmayer, who was raised within the Keys, has greater than a decade of expertise free diving and spear fishing.
‘As natives of Key West, we love the ocean. I used to be spearfishing with Dylan in my stomach,’ his mom Tabitha advised NBC6.
‘Sadly lacking diver instances usually don’t normally have optimistic outcomes,’ US Coast Guard Lieutenant Commander Elizabeth Tatum advised GMA. ‘There are quite a lot of components that play out in opposition to folks.’
The incident occurred on January 19 when he and two pals had been diving and fishing round six miles from the coast. As they had been on the point of head again on account of deteriorating water situations, Gartenmayer determined to go for one final dive.
Throughout that dive he was round 35 ft beneath the floor when currents swept him all the way down to a depth of 150 foot, submerging him for round two minutes.
‘I do quite a lot of deep free diving, so I prefer to go over 100 plus ft on a single breath,’ Gartenmayer stated.
His pals ready on the boat grew to become involved when he by no means got here again up. ‘They had been primarily wanting down, pondering I blacked out from a scarcity of oxygen,’ he stated.
They then contacted the coast guard and notified his household to provoke a search operation, sharing with everybody the coordinates of the place he had entered the water.
‘Pal went diving and is lacking on this space by Western Sambo Reef at these coordinates coast guard now looking if anybody has a quick boat and can assist look earlier than the solar goes down,’ wrote his buddy Sean Caggiano.
That was at 6.03pm, the identical time to the closest minute that the solar was on account of set.
Relations hugged Gartenmayer after he was hauled onto his grandfather’s boat
As soon as they realized he was lacking his pals contacted the Coast Guard, his household and shared coordinates of the place he had gone for the final dive
The second he was seen was captured on video and confirmed relations and pals cheering as Gartenmayer used his spear gun to paddle in the direction of their boat
Gartenmayer, who was raised within the Keys, has greater than a decade of expertise free diving and spear fishing
As soon as on board he was transferred onto a coast guard boat and was taken to shore. Though his temperature was low at first he was launched simply an hour later
By 6.37pm Caggiano posted an replace that his buddy had been discovered.
As soon as on board he was transferred onto a coast guard boat and brought to shore. Though his temperature was low at first he was launched simply an hour later.
‘There was a bunch of bait blowing up round me. I knew that there have been huge fish consuming that bait. I used to be able to battle the night time out however I am glad I did not must,’ Gartenmayer advised NBC6.
‘I may see coast guard out within the distance to the west of me. I may see their blue lights, the helicopter going, doing their grid sample,’ he stated.
He described how he then heard the buzzing sound of the boat’s engine. ‘My mother took my dive gear. She simply began hugging, crying,’ stated Gartenmayer.
His cousin, Priscilla Gartenmayer, recorded key moments through the rescue mission, and uploaded movies to social media.
‘He is the neatest most skilled diver I do know on the water, he swam about two miles and earlier than he misplaced his vitality he grabbed 3 buoys and made a hammock for himself to drift on,’ she wrote.
Gartenmayer’s mom attributed the fortune of discovering her son to divine intervention.
‘It is a miracle we landed proper on my son in a needle in a haystack. You are in the midst of the ocean, and that is God,’ she stated.
